New Tube could be delayed by 30 years

Some Tube passengers may have to wait 30 years for new trains under the Government's controversial Tube plans.

New or refurbished trains promised for the Victoria line will not have to be phased in until 2031, according to information obtained by lawyers for Mayor Ken Livingstone's Transport for London (TfL) authority.

It indicates that the introduction of new trains under the public-private partnership (PPP) will be far slower than previously thought.

Most lines will not see any new or refurbished stock for a decade or more, TfL claims. Only 12 new trains, all on the Jubilee line, are planned to come in over the first seven and a half years of the PPP. Commuters will see refurbished trains over the same period on the District line alone.

TfL's first detailed examination of the contracts shows the private consortia will have until 2013 to bring in all promised new or refurbished trains on the Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines. They have until 2014 on the Piccadilly, 2016 on the Central, 2017 on the Northern, 2020 on the Bakerloo and 2031 on the Victoria.

The two consortia chosen for the PPP promise trains will arrive before these dates, but TfL said the PPP contracts show that the private consortia are not contractually obl i ged to introduce trains until well into the next decade.

A TfL spokesman said: "There are no concrete commitments in the contracts to introduce rolling stock before these dates." However, spokesmen for the Metronet and Tube Lines consortia both said they would introduce new trains before then.