How much money has been spent by TfL on the Metropolitan Line in the period 2011 -2021?
Request ID: FOI-0468-2122 Date published: 23 June 2021
You asked
How much money has been spent by TfL on the Metropolitan Line in the period 2011 -2021?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-0468-2122
Thank you for your request of 6th June 2021 asking for information about spending on the Metropolitan line.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked:
“How much money has been spent by TfL on the Metropolitan Line in the period 2011-2021?”
I am afraid that it is not possible to provide an answer to your question within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, if at all. Under section 12 of the FOI Act we are not required to spend more than £450 to determine if the requested information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work. While it is diffcult to estimate exactly how long it would take to answer your question we believe it would be in excess of 18 hours. This is becasue there is no single source for the information in question, and no quick or easy way of finding it. Even if we were to answer based on track infrastructure alone (as opposed to a broader interpretation of the question which may include staffing, station and rolling stock costs, for example) this would still include a wide number of different activities - such as maintenance, repair, renewal and enhancements. TfL does not record and classify such costs as relating to each individual line as shown on the London Underground map. Contracts may relate to more than one line, and there are a number of shared assets which multiple lines use. There is no set mechanism in place to determine how to split such costs between lines, and different mechanisms would generate different answers in respect of “the Metropolitan line“. To attempt to analyse and allocate all such costs over a 10 year historical period would be extremely convoluted and would exceed the cost exemption. In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to narrow its scope, to focus on a particular project or a more specific aspect of spending. Before doing so I would advise that you first consider the information that is proactively published on the TfL website here:
For example, our Annual Report and Accounts provide a wealth of information about TfL spending by year, going back for many years. Copies can be found here:
The following page provides information about improving the London Underground - note in particular the “Four Lines Modernisation” project which includes the Metropolitan line:
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
