Now driving into Greater London may cost £3.50

MOTORISTS entering London face charges of more than £30 under Sadiq Khan’s radical plan to plug the capital’s financial black hole in public transport.

Plans for a £3.50 daily surcharge on those passing through the city’s suburban boundaries have been drawn up by Transport for London (TfL) for the mayor.

It would bring the cost of driving into London up to £31 for some drivers, alongside the £15 congestion charge and £12.50 ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) charge on high-polluting cars.

The ‘Greater London boundary charge’ would be paid on vehicles registered outside London’s 32 boroughs and would raise an estimated £500million a year. It would not be implemented for two years.

It is one of a series of options being considered by Mr Khan as a means of restoring TfL’s long-term income, which collapsed due to the pandemic.

The cash raised from the levy would be used to reinvest in London’s public transport network – and would cut traffic by between 10 to 15 per cent. Mr Khan views the levy as a fall-back option if TfL’s

‘Ministers should play fair’

demand for a greater share of the takings from road tax, known as vehicle excise duty (VED), continues to be rejected by the Government.

Only a fraction of the £500million in VED paid by Londoners each year is given to TfL – meaning public transport users are forced to pay for road repair.

Mr Khan has urged the Government to ‘play fair’ in funding TfL after it lost its £700million a year annual subsidy in 2018. Instead three- quarters of its income comes from fares alone.

There are 1.3million vehicle trips every weekday into Greater London. High-polluting cars are not charged to enter London suburbs under the Ulez scheme but the zone will expand on October 25 next year.

TfL has received two Government bailouts totalling £3.4billion due to Covid-19 but it wants a further £3.1billion next year.

A Government spokesman said: ‘ This Government has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to supporting London’s transport network with more than £3billion in emergency funding support arrangements... But we have always been clear this support must be fair to UK taxpayers.’