§ Mr. OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he has received a Public/Private Partnership bid from Railtrack for the surface and sub-surface London Underground lines outside the criteria for the tender process. [67923]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe Government have not sought or received any bid from Railtrack in relation to the London Underground public/private partnership (PPP).
Railtrack has made proposals to integrate London Underground's sub-surface lines (Circle, District, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith and City) with the main 260W line network. The Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF) is carrying out a preliminary study of the feasibility, costs and benefits of these proposals and is assessing them in the same way that it would any other such proposals. This work does not in any way imply that the Government believe that a case has been established for Railtrack's proposal on cost-benefit or other grounds, or that London Transport is minded to handle the sub-surface lines differently from the deep tube lines in the PPP.
The Government are continuing to develop the London Underground PPP along the lines announced to the House by the Deputy Prime Minister on 14 December 1998, Official Report, columns 629–30.