Over the first 7½ years of our agreement with London Underground, around half of Tube Lines’ £4.5 billion plus investment will be used to maintain the system. This is a massive task, as Tube Lines inherited some of the oldest infrastructure on the network. A history of under investment and inconsistent maintenance regimes has further impacted on system reliability. There is a great deal of work required to ensure that the Tube is fully operational every morning and we have to have a highly responsive maintenance capability to deal with unplanned work.
Each and every night of the year, thousands of Tube Lines employees and contractors are out on the railway, ensuring that it is fit and ready for service each morning. This army of night workers operates mainly between the hours of midnight until four in the morning. Maintaining the system is a hugely challenging job and requires an attention to detail to make sure that the right people and right equipment are in the right places each night. Tube Lines has introduced new technology to help understand the bigger picture of where maintenance is most required to enable the company to focus resources in the right place.