Report by London Assembly transport committee say refurbishment of up to 75 stations could be shelved owing to 拢1bn cash crisis

Major works on London's underground, including refurbishment of up to 75 stations, could be shelved due to a 拢1bn cash crisis.

Plans to tackle congestion, cool tunnels and put in new lifts and escalators are 鈥渁t risk鈥�, according to a report by the London Assembly Transport committee.

The document, Delays possible: Maintaining and upgrading the London Underground - says a wrangle over costs between Transport for London and maintenance contractor Tube Lines means some projects could be delayed in order to focus on essential maintenance work.

It says: 鈥淭here is a consensus that it would be difficult and damaging to reduce the core programme of maintenance and work to increase the network's capacity.

鈥淚t is the peripheral projects that are at risk - tunnel cooling, congestion relief and schemes for step-free access.鈥�

The funding crisis comes after estimated costs on the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern lines upgrade increased by at least 拢1bn.

Last year the PPP Arbiter said Tube Lines would legitimately be able to charge between 拢5.1bn and 拢5.5bn for work it will do between 2010 and 2017. London Underground had put the price at 拢4.1bn and Tube Lines at 拢7.2bn.

The London Assembly said the discrepancy in the estimates has put pressure on TfL's 鈥渁lready strained budgets鈥�. Some projects have already had to be halted, it said.

Chair of the Transport Committee, Val Shawcross, said delayed or cancelled projects would have a 鈥渞eal impact鈥� on the public and urged TfL to be more transparent.

She said: 鈥淚 urge Transport for London to take our recommendations about reviewing its Business Plan and publishing progress reports seriously - this information should be in the public domain. Maintaining and upgrading the Tube is absolutely vital to the capital and Londoners have a right to know how it is progressing.鈥�

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