THE former public-private partnership contractor Tube Lines has been taken over by Transport for London. The completion of the purchase of the company's shares marks the end of an eight year experiment in private sector involvement in the Underground.

The idea of Underground maintenance and renewals using third-party contractors was the brainchild of Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor in 2001. The move was resisted by the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, but he was thwarted by the timetable imposed by Mr Brown.

To prevent any effective opposition from City Hall, the 30-year contracts were signed before the Underground was transferred to Transport for London, and the control of the Mayor. Only then was the former London Transport Executive wound up.

The other PPP contractor Metronet failed in 2007 when the PPP Arbiter could not agree its spending plans, which would have involved extra payments from TfL.

Tube Lines, too, has come to grief following a ruling by the PPP Arbiter, who conceded that it would need an extra £460 million in its next budget period but warned at the same time that such a settlement would be a financial impossibility for TfL. 

Although Tube Lines continues as a separate company it is now owned by Transport for London, which has paid £310 million to Bechtel and Amey for the shares.

The rail unions had been calling for just such a transfer back to direct public control, but the RMT has criticised the payment of £310 million, which it has dubbed 'a reward for failure'. The RMT has also called two 48-hour strikes of Tube Lines staff in protest at what it believes to be a threat to its members' working conditions.

One strike took place last week, and another is set for 14-16 July. The union's general secretary, Bob Crow, has called for the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to 'come out of the bunker and start talking'. 

Tube Lines has tried unsuccessfully to stop the second strike with court action, but so far no decision has been taken about an injunction. In the meantime, Tube Lines has urged the union to pull back from a 'needless' strike.