The future of free morning newspaper Metro has been secured after it today won the contract to continue to be distributed at London bus and underground stations.
Metro’s ten-year distribution contract was up for renewal on 2 April and Transport for London revealed this morning that it has renewed its deal with Associated Newspapers for another seven and a half years.
TFL said today: “The free morning newspaper has become part of the fabric of city life and something Londoners tell us improves their daily Tube and bus journeys.”
The deal gives Metro access to distribution racks in 250 underground stations and 14 bus stations.
TFL said the “lucractive” contract will 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”.
The new contract is the culmination of a competitive public tender process and will begin on 6 April.
Metro has a daily circulation of 1.3m nationwide, 726,000 of which is in London. The free daily has been profitable for some years, but its figures are not broken out from the main Associated Newspapers accounts.
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