Tube parts bought on eBay

One of the items available on eBay

Tube chiefs are using auction website eBay to get vital spare parts.

Top of the list of equipment needed is computer components for the dot matrix train indicators.

The revelation comes as hundreds of thousands of Northern line passengers face a week of delays because of problems with ageing cab radio systems.

Tube Lines, the private sector consortium responsible for running the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines, confirmed it is being forced to resort to eBay where users can buy and sell online anything from second-hand clothes to cars. The company said it could not obtain spare parts for the Northern line anywhere else.

Brian Cooke, chairman of the London Transport Users' Committee, described the situation as "amazing".

He added: "Commuters will be shocked that Tube Lines is having to do this. They will be equally shocked that the company does not know where to get the spare parts from."

Cynthia Hay of Capital Transport, the passenger pressure group, said: "If you are running an Underground system, especially one as important as London, then surely you would make sure such essential parts are kept in reserve.

"I also find it quite amazing that while LU may not have the parts, they can be obtained on eBay and elsewhere."

A Tube Lines spokesman said: "This is really old equipment. It is difficult to get spares and parts.

"It is a challenge to get the balance right between continuing to maintain something or replace it with completely new equipment, but that cannot be done overnight.

A Tube engineer confirmed: "It's quite true. We do have terrible problems in replacing some of the signalling system when it goes wrong.

"The problem is some of it is so fragile through age you are terrified to touch it in case it breaks.

"This is not a safety issue. If there is a problem with the signalling the system is designed to turn every signal to red. That stops the trains but at the same time causes massive disruption."

Parts of the Northern line are more than 100 years old. Much of the signalling dates back many decades. There are plans to replace the signalling system but it will take years.

The breakdown of the cab radio system has forced London Underground to put two drivers in each Tube cab instead of one, in case of an emergency in the tunnels.

The knock-on effect is that it does not have enough staff to run the Northern line fleet. Train services have been cut by up to 40 per cent. An LU spokesman said it was hoped services would return to normal "as soon as possible" but could not say exactly when this would be.

A spokesman for the train drivers' union Aslef said: "The old system keeps breaking down. Basically it is being held together by a wing and a prayer." The radio breakdown comes as Transport for London today moved to try to force the private-sector companies responsible for maintenance of the network to reinvest their huge profits and improve the service.

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