London Underground

I congratulate the Transport Committee on its important report and my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs. Ellman) on introducing it so effectively, and I also add my best wishes to my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody). I welcome the debate on London Underground's public-private partnership arrangements, as they are in a bad way. That is in fact an understatement following Metronet going into administration last July. Let us not forget that Metronet had responsibility for two thirds—it was probably more than that in reality—of the maintenance of the London underground network. Despite having money flooding in from the Government, the private consortiums have not given value for money overall, and we now have this debacle. I was recently travelling in on a District line tube train in the vicinity of Tower Hill station. I advise the Minister to travel in on that line; actually, I do not advise her to do so, as there is a piercing screeching sound for a long way along the route. That was meant to be the responsibility of Metronet, and I suspect that such screeching sounds will affect commuters a lot more now, and give them an unpleasant journey into work and back home.