Prescott tries to restart tube talks

The future structure of the Tube is still unknown

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is trying to restart talks over the future of the Tube.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has warned that unless Mr Prescott and London's transport commissioner Bob Kiley can come to an agreement, particularly over who will take charge of safety issues, he will seek judicial review over the government's position.

He has brought some new things to the table very late in the day that we cannot accommodate

DETR spokesman

After more than 100 meetings Mr Kiley, who is credited with turning around the New York and Boston undergrounds, is frustrated that his demands for unified management, control of maintenance and control of refurbishment have not been met.

Mr Livingstone told BBC News on Monday that talks between London transport commissioner Bob Kiley and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) had "ground to a complete halt".

But on Sunday Mr Prescott promised that talks on the future of London Underground would continue despite the latest deadlock.

Negotiations stalled last week after government officials accused Mr Kiley of making fresh demands on the future of the tube.

Now Mr Prescott plans to write to Mr Kiley in the hope that they can restart their dialogue.

New demands

Transport for London, the organisation that will take over the running of transport services in the capital, said they were not prepared to give any leeway on the "crucial safety issue" of management control.

The government in turn blamed Mr Kiley for scuppering the talks by making further "last minute demands".

A Transport department spokesman said a 55-point plan presented by Mr Kiley had been "the basis for a deal" when the impasse came.

On Sunday Mr Prescott told BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme: "My main concern is to see that the London Underground has the investment it never has had for 20 years plus."

'Here to stay'

Mr Kiley told BBC News that he still wanted to keep talking.

"We can keep talking but there has got to be substance to the discussions and until we get to that point it's probably not worth continuing the talks."

He warned that government plans risked spreading the "infection" afflicting the UK's main rail network to the Tube.

Only a week ago ministers were "quietly optimistic" a deal could be reached on the future of its controversial public-private partnership (PPP) plan for the tube.