Engineers are working to ensure that London’s Central Tube line is safe to be reopened.

It is reported that only eight trains have so far been modified to ensure that their electric motors are secured properly. There was speculation at the time that the accident was caused by a motor dropping off the train which was carrying several hundred passengers.

London Underground said on 12 March 2003: It will still be a few weeks before we are ready. We can’t even say when that date will be at this stage.

Both the London Assembly and the London Transport Users Committee have called for the line to be put back into service as soon as possible.

London Underground managing director Paul Godier, who is leaving for another job, has promised to stay on until the Central line service is up and running again.

The closure of the Central line has come at a difficult time, just when congestion charging was introduced for car drivers in central London on 17 February 2003. with an expected rise in demand for public transport.

The situation would have been considerably better if CrossRail – abandoned by Railtrack in the early years of rail privatisation – had been built.

The Government is now considering whether a new variant of Crossrail should be built. A decision is expected this year.