But how can this be?

Metronet, the firm responsible for the upkeep of most of London’s tube network, faces administration, the BBC has learnt.

Unless the government intervenes, the troubled firm could collapse without the necessary cash to keep it afloat, BBC business editor Robert Peston said.

I thought private companies were so cost-efficient that their involvement with public services couldn’t possibly go wrong?

What’s that you say? This has happened before?

Surely not.  I mean, the ability to learn from our mistakes is what sets the human race apart from, say, amoebas…