News from Dr Onkar Sahota: Urgent calls for a fair deal as Londoners left in limbo

Urgent calls for a fair deal as Londoners left in limbo A fair, long-term funding deal is “desperately needed” this week to avoid “hugely damaging” cuts to Transport for London (TfL) services, local London Assembly Member, Dr Onkar Sahota AM, has warned. Ahead of Friday's (4th February) deadline for the Government and TfL to agree the next emergency funding settlement, new documents revealed that a £1.5bn financial blackhole could leave commuters facing widespread travel disruption and gridlocked roads. The documents, released by TfL ahead of its Board meeting today (Wednesday 2nd February), also revealed that the tube is at risk of multi-day closures and new signalling for Piccadilly Line has been put on hold. In the absence of a long-term funding deal from the Government, interim safety measures are also in place on 45 road structures with major renewal interventions required on major roads, tunnels and bridges across the capital to avoid significant network closures. TfL’s ‘Healthy Streets’ budget to encourage safe cycling and walking is also facing cuts of around £500m, while the Direct Vision scheme to protect road users from lorries has stalled due to lack of funds. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, there was a 97% reduction in passenger numbers on the London Underground and 86% drop in bus ridership in the capital. Through consecutive lockdowns and waves of the virus, these levels have struggled to fully recover since. From 2018, the Government took away a £700 million annual operating grant from TfL, making it disproportionately reliant on fares income and one of the only major transport authorities not to receive one. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, had reduced TfL’s operating budget by 71% and increased its cash reserves by 13% since coming into office in 2016. Local London Assembly Member, Dr Onkar Sahota AM said: “Londoners have been left in limbo by the Government’s refusal to provide TfL with a long-term funding deal. It needs to be fair and it’s needed by Friday. “Without the right deal for London we face hugely damaging cuts to transport services, road closures and the scrapping of walking and cycling infrastructure schemes- and this is just the tip of the iceberg. “If the Government chooses to downgrade our transport system, they put London and the whole country’s economic recovery at great risk. “The only reason TfL is facing this crisis is because of the pandemic. Ministers should stop punishing Londoners for doing the right thing and staying away from public transport during consecutive lockdowns”.