Metronet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Metronet Rail | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Templar House, 81-87 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6NU |
| Key people | Andie Harper (CEO), Mark Cooper, Stephen M. Hall |
| Industry | Railway |
| Employees | approx. 5250 |
| Website | www.metronetrail.com |
Metronet Rail is a brand within the Transport for London group that is responsible for the maintenance, renewal, and upgrade of the infrastructure on nine London Underground lines. This includes track, trains, signals, civil work and stations. From 18 July 2007 to 26 May 2008, the company was in PPP administration. On 27 May 2008, the company was transferred to Transport for London.[1]
Before it went into PPP Administration, it had five shareholders:
- Atkins,
- Balfour Beatty,
- Bombardier,
- EDF Energy, and
- Thames Water.
The Metronet Rail brand consists of LUL Nominee BCV Limited, trading as Metronet Rail BCV, and LUL Nominee SSL Limited, trading as Metronet Rail SSL: the group operates under the common name of Metronet Rail.
From January 2003 to May 2008, the London Underground was operated as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), where the infrastructure and support services were maintained by private companies but the London Underground was still owned and operated by Transport for London (TfL). Metronet Rail won a 30-year contract for the following tube and sub-surface lines:
BCV (tube) lines
SSL (sub-surface) lines
Under the terms of the contract, Metronet Rail agreed to provide London Underground (LU) with trains, stations, and related infrastructure to the standards and performance levels required to give the travelling public a reliable service in a safe, efficient, and economic manner. LU paid the Metronet Rail consortium an infrastructure service charge (ISC) - a monthly payment increased or abated to reflect the network's performance. Revenue to the consortium was reduced if service fell below benchmark levels and deductions suffered for poor performance were at twice the rate of the increase in revenue for improved performance.
Metronet Rail had promised to modernise and refurbish 150 stations by 2012, with £17 billion invested over the course of the 30-year contract. Within their maintenance and capital-project management remit they had 347 trains, over 471 miles of track, 155 stations, 77 miles of deep tubes, and over 2000 points, crossings, and bridges.
In November 2006, Metronet were heavily criticised by the PPP arbiter, Chris Bolt, over their performance from 2003 to 2006. His analysis included criticism that Metronet had not performed in an economic or efficient manner, and had failed to follow good industry practice. [2]
The remaining London Underground lines, (Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly) are still maintained under a PPP arrangement by Tube Lines .
[edit] Financial crisis
On 17 July 2007 it was reported[3] that Metronet was "teetering on the brink of administration". The situation has arisen because it has received only £121m out of the £551m it needs to cover cost over-runs. By contrast, Tube Lines, the other PPP company, has brought in almost all of its works on time and on budget[4].
On 18 July 2007, the company went into administration.[5]. On 27 May 2008, Metronet came out of administration and was transferred to Transport for London. It continues to operate under the Metronet brand.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/8376.aspx
- ^ Tube and train services disrupted BBC News, retrieved 12 January 2007
- ^ Metronet on brink of collapse after plea on costs is rejected, The Times, 17 July 2007
- ^ Partnership that turned sour, The Times, 27 June 2007
- ^ "Metronet calls in administrators", BBC, 18 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
[edit] External links
