More Government funding for TfL and Light Rail

THE UK Government has extended its support for Transport for London to May 18, providing a further £260m in base funding and additional revenue support of approximately £225m, dependent on actual fares’ income. A new funding deal will have to be established after the London Mayoral elections in early May.

Transport Commissioner Andy Byford was less complimentary when he told the TfL board: “There is no negotiation. We are answering myriad questions, literally hundreds of questions for clarification.” Although Byford was grateful for the co-operation of the Department for Transport and accepted there could be no blank cheque, he added: “What will happen is we will be given an offer. But offers are generally something you can say yes or no to. We’re not really in a position to say no, so it’s not what I would call a genuine offer.”

TfL is also questioning whether it will have enough money to complete the Crossrail project. TfL’s Chief Finance Officer Simon Kilonback said recently that there was “a sizeable risk” that TfL might not have sufficient funding to complete the Crossrail project because, as current estimates suggest, more money will be needed, even after the £825m announced in December 2020.

Meanwhile, the UK Government has also agreed to extend support to light rail with an additional £33m. This is to extend support for a further 11 weeks and will go to the Nottingham Express Transit, West Midlands Metro, Sheffield Supertram, Blackpool Trams, Manchester Metrolink and Tyne and Wear Metro. This takes the funding up to nearly £200m since the pandemic began.

The Scottish Government has also provided £7.5m more in emergency funding for Glasgow Subway and Edinburgh Trams, which will apply until the end of June and takes its total support for the two systems to £28.5m.