Boris Johnson has summoned Thames Water bosses to City Hall to deliver a dressing down after blundering workmen flooded the Tube.
The Mayor was said to be “absolutely seething” after contractors broke a 24-inch mains pipe as they tried to fix a leak, leaving 300 passengers stranded underground and bringing 24 hours of chaos to the Central line.
Two million litres of water had to be pumped out of tunnels between Stratford and Mile End before full services could be restored yesterday.
City Hall sources said Mr Johnson wants a full explanation of what went wrong — and assurances that it cannot happen again. He also wants guarantees that Thames Water — whose chief executive Martin Baggs is believed to have been paid £1.67 million last year — is “up to speed” in coping with the Olympics.
Transport for London said today it was “exploring all the options” on compensation for the clean-up and the impact on passengers.
Thames Water also faces claims from residents and businesses. Floodwater in streets near the Olympic Park rose to car-bonnet height. “Costs of the whole operation will be substantial,” said a TfL source. “We are talking millions of pounds and it is not something we will be able, or willing, to let go.”
Today the Thames engineer who took control of the flooding said it was an accident waiting to happen. Head of water production Jerry White said: “In a way, the fact that we identified this location and had dug down is fortuitous. It could have gone at any point.
“This is a vindication of our efforts to deal with high consequence locations proactively. Hopefully we have mitigated something that might have happened during the Games.”
Mr White said the company was about 85 per cent of the way through checking 140 kilometres of pipework regarded as most at risk of bursting near 2012 sites. He said there were no other sensitive locations near Tube lines waiting to be checked. “Clearly whatever we do, we want to make sure there is zero risk of anything further affecting the Tube in that location.”
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A Thames Water spokeswoman said its executives would meet the Mayor. “We are aware of the letter and we will respond,” she said.
