Without emergency measures, ondon’s bus and subway services may be severely interrupted government Due to a funding gap of £1.9 billion, mayor of London There are warnings.
Sadik Khan Said that unless the government intervenes by injecting funds, bus services may be reduced by one-fifth, and subway services may be reduced by nearly 10%.
Earlier, a report submitted to the City Hall Finance Committee detailed that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the transportation network was worse than expected, and the emergency funding transaction by Transport for London (TfL) will end next month.
Mr. Khan said in a statement: “London traffic is responding to an unprecedented financial crisis caused by the pandemic.”
“We are now less than a month away from TfL’s emergency funding agreement that expires on December 11. Unless the government provides the long-term funding needed to maintain the public transportation network, we have no choice when demand grows again. , Can only cut services drastically.
“For Londoners, this means fewer, more frequent, and run-down bus and subway services, making it more difficult to travel around the city.
“The lack of funds to maintain critical transportation infrastructure also means more roads and tunnels are closed.
If the capital does not have a properly funded public transport network, there can be no recovery in London; without a recovery in London, there can be no national recovery
“The widespread destruction and deadlock that all these changes will cause will not only impose unfair punishments on millions of Londoners due to the financial impact of the pandemic on TfL, but also put the country’s economic recovery at risk.”
The Labor mayor said that although he supports the government’s nationwide transportation investment to increase the level, this should not be at the expense of “lowering London”.
He said: “If the capital does not have a properly funded public transport network, there can be no recovery in London, and there can be no recovery in the whole country without the recovery of London.”
“Our city contributes a net 36.1 billion pounds to the Ministry of Finance each year. The TfL contract contributes approximately 7 billion pounds to the British economy, and its supply chain supports 43,000 jobs across the country that may be at risk.
“If the government does not cooperate with us to protect London’s transport network, the capital and the entire country will pay the price in the coming decades.”
TfL Finance Committee City Hall Explaining in detail that it has reduced operating costs by more than £1 billion per year in the past five years, but said that due to the estimated £1.9 billion funding gap, more savings will be needed.
According to the report, this will mean a shift to a “decline in management” scenario, requiring a reduction of at least 18% in bus services and 9% in subway services.
