The mayor's office announced that Transport for London will be inviting bids from newspaper organisations for the distribution of a free afternoon newspaper on the Tube.
Livingstone said that the current exclusive distribution deal with Metro did not allow Londoners to get the benefit of a free afternoon paper and that the additional money from a new deal would be invested in further improvements to the Tube.
The news will delight Richard Desmond. He has been forced to wait on the sidelines despite the rumoured readiness of his project, believed to be an evening paper called London-i.
He had complained to the Office of Fair Trading about Associated's deal with London Underground in May 2003. However, the OFT has not yet concluded its investigation into whether the deal represents a market abuse.
A spokeswoman for the GLA: "We are quite confident that the OFT will allow for distribution of an afternoon newspaper."
An Express Newspapers spokeswoman said: "We welcome the mayor's statement and look forward to the matter now being resolved quickly."
Last month, Associated launched Standard Lite, a free version of the Evening Standard, with an initial lunchtime distribution in central London of 50,000.
Although seen more as a response to the Standard's falling circulation than a threat to Desmond, Associated will no doubt shake up its operation again in response to a Desmond evening newspaper.
Associated had threatened to launch a red-top newspaper in retaliation to any Desmond evening launch.
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