LONDON - The British government has announced plans to sell off London's vast and crumbling subway system, the London Underground.
The proposed sale of the world's oldest subway - all 254 miles of it - is the latest and probably the last large-scale privatization for the Conservative government here. Indeed, its hallmark during its 18 years in power has been the sale of government assets, including the railways, the national airline, the telephone system, and the nation's power and water utilities.
"The tube," as it is called, faces a crisis of disrepair, decay and delay, caused by years of under-investment in modernization by successive Conservative governments. It was started in 1863 and some of its components - track, electrical fixtures and subway cars - are 50 years old. The most famous phrase associated with the London Underground is "Mind the gap" - the refrain reminding passengers to step carefully on and off because of the potentially hazardous distance from platform to train door.
Acknowledging this situation, Transport Secretary George Young said the central purpose of the sale of the system to private enterprise is to boost funds for improvements beyond what the government can afford.
He said the process of privatization would begin this summer, a timetable that raised the prospect that it might not happen at all. A general election will be held by late May. With the opposition Labor Party far ahead in current polls, the Tories may not be in office past then and Labor leaders' response to privatization has been hostile.
"This is a privatization the public will throw out at the ballot box along with the government that sponsored it," said Andrew Smith, Labor's spokesperson on transportation in the House of Commons. This is like "selling your house when the walls are falling down."
Labor has said it would try to attract private investment to improve the service, but would keep the system in public.
Rough maximum estimates of the market value of the system approach $20 billion. But because of the vast improvements required - at least $1.3 billion annually, according to official accounts - the government will have to sell it at a substantial discount and provide significant subsidies to any buyer or group of buyers.
Breakdowns caused by electrical faults are a daily occurrence on many lines. Few of the busiest stations make it through a week without escalator, elevator or safety failures. Passengers, who make roughly 2.5 million trips per day, travel in a permanent state of uncertainty about whether their station and their line will be functioning smoothly.
The average scheduled speed is only 20.5 mph. Poor ventilation and overcrowding make riding hot and uncomfortable at rush hour, even on cold winter days.
The structure of any sale will be complicated. Young said the government is considering a variety of options, including selling the whole operation to one bidder, selling track and stations to one operator and the trains to another, or selling each of the system's 12 lines to separate operators.
In any case, Young told the House of Commons, "the private sector will be able to deliver results more efficiently."
The sale is typical of the Tory government, said Labor spokesman Smith: "Neglect it for years. ... Run it down and sell it off."