Metro secures new tube contract

Metro has retained its contract to distribute newspapers on the London Underground.

The new contract will run for more than seven years from April 2 and will cover  250 tube stations and 14 bus stations across London.

The morning freesheet secured its first tube deal in 1999, which allowed Metro to hand out copies of the title from 6am to 11.30am Monday to Friday.

The value of the contract is unknown but when the new tender was launched last May, News International and Alexander Lebedev were both expected to place rival bids.

Richard Parry, interim managing director of London Underground, said: “The revenue from this lucrative contract will go straight back into funding improvements to public transport in the capital, including the upgrade of the Tube.

“The new deal will also fund carbon-cutting projects such as making our stations more energy efficient and will further encourage newspaper recycling with more recycling bins at key stations.”

In January, the Associated Newspaper-owned title distributed around 726,000 copies in the Capital, according to ABC figures.