Could Tube Lines buy-out be the end to misery on the Northern Line?

Misery on the Northern Line may have been averted after Transport for London completed a buy-out of Public Private Partnership operator Tube Lines at the weekend.

TfL and the Mayor's Office had clashed with Tube Lines over its proposals to close Northern Line stations over 82 weekends in the next two years. Local councillors set up a petition demanding a review of the closures.

Further controversy surrounded Tube Lines' budget for the upgrade work, which Mayor Johnson called "an attempt at daylight robbery". Plans to buy out the shares were anounced last month, bringing the PPP contract to an end.

TfL's purchase of Tube Lines means all upgrade work has now been brought back under London Underground control, and engineering-related closures on the network have already been cut. Evening closures planned for the High Barnet branch have also been cancelled.

London Underground's priority is now the completion of the Jubilee Line upgrade. The upgrade schedule on the Northern and Piccadilly Lines will then be reviewed.

Mayor Johnson welcomed the development, saying in a press statement that the deal "provides us with the greater flexibility on how improvement work is carried out." Metronet, the previous PPP contractor working on the London Underground, went into administration in 2007.