The final TFL funding package has been agreed

Transport for London has struck a deal with the Government to provide funding up until March 2024 which in total will come to around £1.2 billion.

Transport for London has struck a deal with the Government to provide funding up until March 2024 which in total will come to around £1.2 billion. This amount will provide a safety net for the TfL if passenger numbers dip next year. Andy Byford the transport commissioner has said that even with this new amount of funding there is still a large gap in the budget that they need to figure out how they are going to fill.

This new amount of funding has come after months of deliberation as well as constant strikes from the rail industry. There were also comments from Grant Shapps earlier in the deliberations where he remarked on getting driverless trains and went on to say that this funding package will be the last. Andy Byford now is looking forward to supporting the recovery of the transport sector after the pandemic and goes on to say that there ‘is no UK recovery without London Recovery, and no London recovery without a properly funded transport network’.

It has been estimated that the TfL will need to save an extra £230 million between now and 2024 otherwise they will need to find another source of funding. Labours London Assembly transport representative Elly Baker has said ‘The government’s punitive deal with TfL comes too late and adds insult to injury for Londoners living through an unprecedented cost of living crisis who did the right thing by staying away from public transport during the pandemic.’