METRO, the free newspaper printed by Associated Newspapers and distributed to London’s commuters at London Underground stations, is set to retain its contract with Transport for London.
TfL is set to announce later today that, subject to contract, METRO will be awarded contracts by London Underground and London Bus Services entitling it to distribute free newspapers at around 250 underground stations and 14 bus stations on weekday mornings.
The current contract expires on April 2nd and a notice seeking potential tenders was placed in the Official Journal of the European Union in May 2009. TfL had previously indicated the seven and a half year contract would be awarded “in late 2009”.
Richard Parry, interim Managing Director at London Underground said revenue from the new contract “will go straight back into funding improvements to public transport” as well as funding “carbon-cutting projects” including schemes to make stations more energy efficient.
As part of the new contract Associated will be required to implement measures to reduce the number of newspapers left behind each day.
Welcoming the renewal of METRO’s contact, Managing Director Steve Auckland said: “We are delighted that TfL have announced their intention to award the concessions to Metro. Our teams work extremely well together and we look forward to continuing to give our consumers the very best service during their commute.”
