34 Metronet and London Underground started to negotiate a revised stations programme in April 2006 but were unable to reach agreement on 'Heads of Terms' until January 2007. The negotiation concluded on 3 July 2007 and led to a commercial settlement under which Metronet agreed to £45 million of reduction in costs/revenues for delay and timetable prolongation, in return for a revised programme for future deliveries. There were two key elements to the settlement:
i Metronet agreed to amend its reference to the Arbiter to reduce its claim for additional spending on the first 13 stations by £45 million, from £108 million to £63 million. £10 million of the £63 million claim was for economic and efficient additional spending on three BCV stations and £53 million on ten SSL stations.
ii Metronet agreed to accept liability for 90.5 per cent of the total delay to the completion of the 13 stations, which included delays associated with planning, designing and building works. In the case of a further 27 stations, in exchange for a revised completions schedule which extended the time it had to complete the stations, it accepted liability for 90.5 per cent of the delays as forecast at the date of the settlement. This meant that there would be no payment deductions for delay on those 27 stations provided the revised completion schedule was met.
35 This settlement did not affect Metronet's rights to a review by the PPP Arbiter of the costs for additional stations work that had been required by London Underground, and that Metronet believed it had supplied economically and efficiently.