BORIS JOHNSON rejected an invite yesterday to an urgent face-to-face meeting with union leaders to get London’s postponed Night Tube back on track.

Transport union TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes extended a lifeline to the Tory mayor of London after negotiations over London Underground (LU) staff terms and conditions broke down and plans were suspended indefinitely.

The Night Tube, which was advertised across London to start on September 12 before the workers’ contracts were agreed, is not expected to start until next year at the earliest.

In a personal letter to the London mayor, Mr Cortes said: “The Night Tube should happen and, given that we all want it to happen, it should be possible.

“This requires you to put your Conservative Party leadership ambitions on hold for a short time and give all your efforts to the most immediate job in hand.”

But Mr Johnson — who is vying to be Tory Prime Minister David Cameron’s successor — refused to meet the transport unions and accused Mr Cortes of “needless headline grabbing.”

Mr Cortes responded by saying that although the mayor’s spokesman “prefers to sling insults our way,” the unions’ “shoulders are broad” and that the invitation still stands.

Last week, the RMT union announced that LU did not dispute the idea of Tube drivers working a compressed 36-hour week in four days with the possibility of this being extended to station staff. However, no new pay deal has been offered.

Earlier this month LU threatened to bypass union leaders with the aim of directly influencing staff on pay and conditions.