Today I chaired an emergency London Assembly Transport Committee meeting about the Tube. In attendance were:

– ASLEF and RMT from the union,

– Tim O’Toole (the man in charge of the Tube for Transport for London) and Mike Streslecki (safety director for London Underground), and

– both the Chief Execs from the private consortia (Tubelines – Camden derailment and Metronet – Hammersmith derailment).

So all the key players were in the room.

The key concerns emerged quite clearly:

– all parties agreed that the maintenance done on both lines pre-accidents was up to the standard specified in the PPP contract. Therefore the conclusion drawn to in the room – subject to the results of the enquiry – are that the standards specified within the contract are inadequate.

– the unions angrily voiced that their staff often reported faults with track or equipment and were ignored. I found this a terrifying piece of information – as did clearly Tim O’Toole who promised to address this immediately.

– the inspection regime did not pick up any faults, therefore it is likely that this is also not of a standard required to ensure that faults are found.

– Bob Kiley went on the record just after the accident to say that he needed more information from Tubelines (who manage the infrastructure on the Northern Line). There was a terse response from Tubeline’s Chief Executive, Terry Morgan, that he was supplying all necessary information. So at the emergency summit, I put their dispute directly to Tim O’Toole (on Bob Kiley’s behalf) and Terry Morgan as they were in the room together. What transpired was that Bob Kiley was actually asking for more and different information from that which Tubelines were contracted to supply. I basically said that was unacceptable to traveling Londoners who, if the Commissioner of Transport said he needed more information to run the Tube, expected him to get it. Terry Morgan said he would address it and would supply it. And I asked for a report back on progress on this within a couple of weeks.

What all this points at particularly, I think, is the weakness of the contract regime sitting on top of a dilapidating infrastructure that will not be improved quickly enough within the PPP contracts.

You can’t blame Tubelines for not supplying requirements outside of the contract – that is the nature of a contract. However, who pays for what is needed over and above the PPP contract (and that is going to be a lot of different and large bills)?

My own personal view is that the Government should be legally liable as it was responsible for signing off a contract which was inadequate in terms of maintenance standards, inspections and supply of information – and that’s only what is showing itself so far.

However, Mayor Livingstone is politically responsible and accountable – and the onus is therefore on him to ensure that the standards of maintenance, inspection etc. are at a level where London can have confidence in the integrity of the infrastructure.

This doesn’t even touch on what the ambition for decent standards on the Tube should be.