Fewest Tube passengers since Victorian times

THE number of passengers using London Underground is now at a level not seen since the early days of the network in the late-1800s.

Easter Sunday (April 22) saw 64,000 trips made across all lines, down 97% on the same day in 2019.

As a result, Transport for

London began furloughing staff as a‘temporary and essential’ measure, but with TfL topping up the Government’s job retention scheme so that employees still receive all of their pay.

The reduction in usage across all forms of public transport in London means there is massive strain on TfL’s finances, which were already suffering from the planned withdrawal of central government support.

By late-April at least 26 TfL workers had died after contracting Covid-19, although it is not clear how or where they might have caught the disease.