Sadiq Khan threatens to raise London’s council tax to bail out the Tube

Westminster has handed TfL virtually £5bn in funding considering the fact that the start off of the pandemic. With roughly double the authority’s funding coming from fare revenue in comparison with other overseas cities, TfL was specially vulnerable to a tumble in passenger quantities.

TfL was supplied a a single-7 days extension on Saturday to agree new funding from the Federal government soon after its newest package ran out.

Mr Khan explained: “The sole result in of TfL’s economical troubles is Covid-19. With the emergence of the omicron variant and the new direction to function from residence, it is by no means been much more urgent for the Federal government to agree a reasonable, sustainable, extended-time period funding offer for TfL for the gain of our money city and the total nation.”

The Key Minister has dismissed Mr Khan’s promises in the past, attacking him for freezing fares when elected in 2016 and lumbering TfL with substantial money owed.

The mayor has now introduced that fares throughout all public transportation in the money will increase by the retail rates index furthermore 1pc.

Andy Byford, TfL’s commissioner, explained very last month: “Without significant sustained expense we will see a harmful vicious circle of underinvestment and services cuts, dragging London back again to the 1970s and ‘80s period of an ageing, infrequent and unreliable transportation network.”