Tell the Government: Our city deserves better than Tory cuts
Londoners did the right thing during the height of the pandemic by staying at home.
The only reason TfL needs emergency funding is because fares income dropped by 90 per cent during the first lockdown and passenger levels are still much lower than they were pre-pandemic.
Rather than thank Londoners for doing the right thing, the Tory Government has decided to, once again, treat our transport network as a political football.
Private rail companies were immediately bailed out by the Tory Government. But even though Sadiq tried to work constructively with Ministers, TfL has had to deal with:
- Months of silence and last-minute extensions
- Demands for impossible levels of savings
- Short-term sticking plaster deals
This is not good enough for our city.
Thankfully, our Labour Mayor is doing everything he can to stand up for London.
Sadiq Khan successfully saw off the worst elements of the Tory plans, which would have been the equivalent of:
Cancelling one in five bus routes
or
Scrapping an entire Tube line.
And he saved free travel for under 18s and stopped the Tory Government from extending the congestion charge zone to the North and South Circular.
Sadiq is doing everything he can to protect our transport network, but without a long-term and fair funding agreement, the Tory Government risks disruption to the network and puts our city’s recovery from Covid-19 in jeopardy.
Public transport in London needs more investment – so that it can continue to be a world-class service, enabling everyone to get around safely – not more Tory cuts.
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