Tubes - Ken gets Metronet

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Ken has finally got his mitts on Metronet, whose woes have featured prominently in our daily comment.

By Max Reimpell

Edition: Planes, trains and automobiles.

The PPPs were always opposed by the Mayor - yet now he becomes Metronet’s Chairman.

The company owes TfL £897m and this has prevented any private sector bidder from emerging.

Does this mean that PPP was wrong in the first place, as Ken will no doubt claim?

Tubelines shows that is not the case. But it's not in their interest to talk things up. So somehow we don’t expect anyone to notice.

Any move that can reduce power and wear and tear will save money. So here’s an idea. In-cab signalling.

The stop/go instruction is given directly to the train. This allows it to run different braking profiles at different times of the day.

During off-peak hours, smoother acceleration and braking reduces costs. The savings add up.