Metronet is about to be taken over by London’s transport authority, TfL, which will also get the failed subway concessionaire out of Administration.
The Mayor of London approved plans to transfer the business and its assets and staff to TfL, which hopes the arrangements will be completed soon, possibly in May.
The two Metronet businesses – Metronet Rail BCV (“BCV”) and Metronet Rail SSL (“SSL”) – went into Administration in July 2007, having unsuccessfully sought extra payments from the client. BCV had called for the public-private partnership (PPP) contract referee, the PPP Arbiter, to judge the issue (T&TI, December 2007, p12).
TfL needed to ensure the fulfilment of the upgrade programme and late last year emerged as the sole bidder for the Metronet package. Shortly before, a number of senior executives left the Metronet firms and new management was appointed by the PPP Administrator, Ernst & Young.
The setbacks for the Metronet firms have hit the financial performance of the JV companies behind the ventures – Atkins, Balfour Beatty, EDF Energy, Thames Water and Bombardier. TfL said the recent agreement of Bombardier and Westinghouse to continue their work on the Victoria line upgrade was a ‘significant’ step towards getting Metronet out of Administration.
