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Tube Privatisation - Featherstone condems selection of Balfour Beatty
May 3, 2001 12:00 AM
As the Government attempts to press ahead with the privatisation and break-up of the Tube, the Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson on the GLA, Lynne Featherstone, has condemned the selection of Balfour Beatty as one of the preferred bidders to take over the Bakerloo, Central, Victoria and Waterloo and City lines. Balfour Beatty, the construction company which has been accused of responsibility for the Hatfield rail disaster, was yesterday named as one of the firms that will form the Metronet consortium which will take over the Victoria line. In a coincidence that is certain to anger local people, the move coincided with an admission from the company's chief executive, at its AGM, that the firm could have ordered speed restrictions, or the closure of the Hatfield line, when it discovered defects before the October crash which killed four people. Lynne Featherstone, who is also Chair of the Greater London Authority's Transport Policy Committee, comments: "This is a grim day for the Tube, and an appalling insult to the people of London. It defies belief that the Labour Government is breaking up and handing over the Tube to private companies when such a question mark hangs over the future of safety. "If the Government insists on pushing ahead with its disastrous plans for the Tube, local people must hit the Labour party where it really hurts - in the ballot box. Labour MPs in London have consistently supported the Government's plans. The Tube must be a key issue in the forthcoming Election."
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