Having tried and failed to get anywhere with incremental changes in recent years, Rhode Island will soon have a hybrid pension structure that puts the bulk of contributions into a 401(k)-type plan that public workers can take with them to other jobs.
Some of that is deferred maintenance, but the bulk derives from the cruel Catch-22 of occupying a historic structure: The Corcoran has been "grandfathered, " or exempted, from various ordinances and codes over the years.
But Lord Tunnicliffe said that the London Underground deal, which established Metronet to maintain the bulk of the tube network, was based on "a very unsatisfactory business structure".