The London Underground mass transit system planned to reopen the last of three bombed tunnels on August 4, following repairs by a 50-strong team of the maintenance contractor Tube Lines Ltd. Scene of the worst carnage, the deep, narrow bored tunnel was the last to be released by police investigators on July 26. By then the bombed train had been removed for continuing analysis.

As with the other two, shallow, tunnels, the 30-m-deep section of Piccadilly Line between King§s Cross and Russell Square was found to have had extensive damage to cabling, with some track needing replacing. Tube Lines says it set up multi-skilled team of experts to prepare to recover the tunnel immediately after the 7 July explosions of four bombs killed 56 people at three subway tunnels and a bus.

Tube Lines, one third owned by Bechtel Corp., San Francisco, has a 30-year contract with London Underground Ltd. to maintain and upgrade infrastructure on the deep Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, representing roughly one third of the system. The remainder of the network is in the hands of Metronet Rail, which reopened its two bomb-damaged shallow tunnels during the previous week.