Transport for London’s Money Pit, Will Need Government Support For At Least Two Years, Says New TfL Boss.

Transport for London (TfL) will need at least two years of Government support to be financially stable, an official has said.

Andy Byford, commissioner of TfL, also suggested Crossrail, which will see the new Elizabeth line run from Berkshire to Essex via central London, may open sooner than the first half of 2022.

TfL’s finances have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, leading to it requiring a £1.8 billion Government bailout in November to keep services running until March this year.

Speaking on BBC’s Politics London programme, Mr Byford said: “TfL absolutely will require additional subsidy for the next year and the year beyond that.

TfL has now been given two short-term government bailouts worth around £3.7bn in the past eight months, after Covid lockdowns ravaged the body’s revenue.

Fare revenue dropped by more than 90 per cent during the first lockdown and has never recovered since.

Byford went on to say; “Obviously, we will do our bit to cut our costs, we have in the past taken a billion pounds off the cost base, there are further savings baked into this financial sustainability plan. So we we are saying that we will ourselves make changes.”

TfL’s funding model sees fares making up around 72 per cent of their total revenues, which is far more than for transport bodies in other global cities.

Byford said yesterday, that the pandemic showed TfL must “must diversify our revenue streams”.

TAXI LEAKS EXTEA BIT 

WHERE’s WILL???

Is the cycling Czar under official orders to be radio silent???

Some say the silence is deafening from :

Mayor of London , Will Norman , Heidi Alexander , Carlton Reid , Ross Lydall , Peter Walker , Jon Burke, Adam Harrison...

Would anyone care to comment on how this disgusting illegality was allowed to be imposed on the public/disabled