Covid-hit Transport for London gets another bailout to keep running
The funding standoff between Transport for London and central government has inched closer to a long-term settlement, with £200m agreed to keep TfL services running for the next four months.
Fares across TfL will rise next week as part of the ongoing negotiations, even as London Underground workers are due to strike because of the threat to jobs from budget cuts.
The government said the latest settlement, the fourth such deal, would take its emergency Covid aid to TfL up to nearly £5bn, and included “the potential for a longer-term capital investment settlement”.
However, it insisted that London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, make more cost savings and consult on more revenue raising to deal with the shortfall from the pandemic.
The new settlement, which will run until 24 June, could be increased if a new variant hits, or reduced if revenues from transport return more quickly than anticipated.
The government said it had made an additional pledge to provide over £1bn every year for capital investment in October’s spending review.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said the government had “repeatedly shown its commitment to London and the transport network it depends upon”.
He added: “These support packages must be fair to all taxpayers and the settlement agreed today provides enough to cover lost revenue from the pandemic while the mayor follows through on his promises to keep TfL on the path to financial sustainability by 2023.”
Khan will consult on options to raise more revenues, with road charges in some form likely to be extended throughout London. He will also have to find cost savings of up to £400m in the next year and address TfL’s pension fund.
Khan said he was “relieved” to have the funding, but reiterated that the pandemic
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