The brand new lifts at Edgware Road Bakerloo have failed a couple of times of late, leading to station closures. Cue irate passengers, who've walked to Edgware Road from Paddington due to the Bakerloo Line closure there.
The Edgware Road lifts were installed by, and continue to be maintained by, KONE (a Finnish company). KONE are a big player in the train station elevator world; they've got the contract to provide the lifts for Crossrail stations, and proudly proclaim their "long-standing relationship with London Underground." They've been involved in elevator upgrades and refurbs across the Tube.
But London Underground has an in-house Lifts & Escalators department. Sure, it doesn't manufacture new lifts itself, and would have to work with external companies to get parts, but wouldn't it be better from the point of view of both cost and general efficiency to keep as much of the work in-house as possible? Is this another case of outsourcing and contracting leading to stress for LU staff and passengers?
