Tube consortiums concede extra spending may be required if asbestos problem is bigger than expected.
Fears are growing that the bill for refurbishing the London Underground under the public-private partnership agreement could rise substantially because of the cost of removing asbestos.

Preferred bidders Metronet and Tubelines, which are ironing out final contracts with the government, concede that extra spending may be required. However, they emphasise that some money has already been set aside in the overall agreement for remedial work of this kind.

An insider at London Underground said a feasibility study was being carried out to assess how much extra the consortiums may need to charge to remove the asbestos.

He said safety was a primary concern in finalising the contracts to upgrade the network.

The main asbestos trouble spot is believed to be at Earl's Court, a control base on the Piccadilly and District lines. Transport experts are currently looking into alternative locations for the control centre.

The London Underground source said the removal of asbestos from the Earl's Court control centre was a key concern.

He said: "Any relocation of the control centre is likely to add a significant cost to the contract. Alternative sites are having to be considered; these sites must also be asbestos free."

The most likely alternative sites for the Earl's Court control base are Acton or Finsbury Park, at either end of the Piccadilly Line.

A spokesperson for Tubelines, which is set to win the contract to upgrade the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, confirmed there was an asbestos problem at Earl's Court.

He also agreed that the control centre might have to be moved but denied that this would necessarily lead to the PPP bill increasing as operations of this kind were provided for in the overall agreement.

He did, however, concede that it might be necessary for the consortium to charge more if the work involved proved greater than expected. He said any extra charge would be small relative to the overall cost of the PPP contract.

A spokesperson for Metronet, the consortium handling the Bakerloo, Victoria, Central and subsurface lines, said provision had been made for the removal of asbestos within the overall contract.

He said it was inevitable that there would be some traces of the material in the Underground network and its removal was provided for.