Yahoo Finance Sadiq Khan urges businesses to ‘bang on Shapps' door’ in TfL cash fight
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged businesses to come to the aid of Transport for London as efforts to secure a final £900m in government funding are at a stalemate.
Speaking to business leaders at City Hall Wednesday evening, Sadiq Khan said TfL needed a new deal that would make it sustainable and jobs were at risk across the UK.
Read more: TFL: Sadiq Khan hits Londoners with biggest tube and bus fare hike in a decade
“The simple fact is that it can’t be a national recovery without a London recovery and there can’t be a London recovery without TfL firing on all cylinders. With four days to go, write, call, or bang on Grant Shapps’ door or any minister’s you know to explain to them why TfL matters and why this deal matters,” he said.
The current £200m government bailout agreed in February, is set to on the 24th of June.
“This is a £10bn transport business living hand to mouth, month to month. We urgently need a new deal that will compensate us for the fares and revenue loss as a result of the pandemic and puts our transport authority on a sustainable footing for the future.
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“And to be clear, this isn’t just a London issue. It’s in the national interest for this to happen, because starving TfL of funding risks jobs, growth and supply chains in every corner of the UK,” Khan said.
TfL is seeking about £900m to cushion the estimated fares revenue drop for the remainder of the financial year, plus a deal to repair and modernise the network.
TfL saw its revenues collapse by as much as 95% during the pandemic. Tube and bus fares in London rose in February by an average of 4.8%, an additional 1% above the RPI inflation rate rise for rail fares around the country.
Watch: Sadiq Khan warns TfL fare prices may rise by 10% next January
