ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

London’s transport chief today warned that parts of the Tube were at risk of “serial decline” unless the Government helped to fund major upgrades.

Mike Brown said that a £1.5 billion fleet of 94 trains due on the Piccadilly line from 2023 would not be able to run any faster or more regularly than at present because there was no money to upgrade the “knackered” signalling system.

A £656 million upgrade of Bank station would not deliver its full potential on the Northern line because trains would still get stuck in a bottleneck at Camden Town, he added.

Mr Brown, who stands down on May 8 after five years as Transport for London commissioner, today pleaded with Boris Johnson to ensure that any “levelling up” of spending with the North did not mean a “levelling down” for the capital.

He said: “There are huge parts of the transport network that are still at real risk of serial decline.

“We have the two oldest fleets of trains now in the UK. The Piccadilly line trains were introduced in 1973, but they’re not quite as old as the Bakerloo line trains that were introduced in 1972 ... it’s quite remarkable that they’re still running, but it’s not sustainable.” Mr Brown said weekday passenger numbers on the Tube had doubled to five million since 2000 but “not one kilometre of extra track” had been built.

There are no new projects in the pipeline once Bank station and the extension of the Northern line to Battersea power station are completed. Holborn station was also in need of expansion but no cash was available, he said.

TfL’s finances have been badly hit by the loss of a £700 million annual Government operating subsidy. It will also be deprived of about £1.35 billion in lost fares due to delays in opening Crossrail.

This is in addition to the £640 million cost of Mayor Sadiq Khan’s four-year partial fares freeze. There has also been a decline in bus journeys.

Tube journeys have been less badly affected but have failed to hit targets. However, income from Underground fares continues to rise as a consequence of the annual increase in travelcards.