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Further Jubilee line closures prompts fury
Susanna Wilkey
TRADERS and residents in St John's Wood have been left furious after it emerged on Monday that the weekend closures of the Jubilee line will continue until at least October.
Shop owners, restaurants and pub landlords in the popular area have been left in disbelief that the scheme is set to overrun by more than 10 months and are furious Transport for London and Tube Lines keep passing the buck.
They are also calling for the work on the line to be done during weekday night-times instead of persistent weekend closures of large swathes of the line.
Richard Porter, who owns the Beatles Cafe which is based in St John's Wood station, said: "I cannot believe it is now going on until October - what are they doing?
"It is terrible news for the cafe and traders in St John's Wood. We lose £500 every day we are closed so it is terrible news this is carrying on and on.
"We are having to come up with contingency plans to cope with all these closures and now they want to close during the summer months which is our busiest time because of the tourists. Do they not care about tourism?
"We never know exactly what they are doing and it is incredibly frustrating. It seems to be part of everyday life now it has been going on for so long. It is ridiculous but we just have to carry on and hope for the best."
And Jitendra Thakorlal, chairman of the West Hampstead traders and residents association, wants more night time weekday closures.
"They should be looking at stopping the Metropolitan line in West Hampstead when the Jubilee line is closed as well as doing some night time closures instead of always at the weekend," he said.
"It is like a ping pong ball with the companies blaming each other and we are the ordinary people who are suffering.
"People are really angry. We have handed in our petition but nothing has happened. I think it will go on much longer than October. And I have spoken to some of the contractors who don't even think when it is finished the new system will work."
An independent adjudicator on Monday dismissed Tube Lines' claim for a further £327million from London Underground (LU).
Tube Lines had sought to claim that LU was in breach of its PPP contract but the independent adjudicator not only ruled that LU had not breached its contract but also instructed Tube Lines to pay for LU's legal fees.
A spokeswoman for Tube Lines said: "We are taking time to review the decision of the adjudicator and taking legal advice before deciding whether to take further action, which may include pursuing the matter before the courts.
"What's important now is that both Tube Lines and LU make it a priority to work together in partnership to ensure improvements to passengers are delivered on time and that those improvements represent value for money.
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