Government extents TfL’s bailout until May

Today it has been announced that the government has extended  TfL funding until May.

Since the last year, TfL’s financial income has plummeted with the majority of the fund made from ticker and fare sales.

In 20191/2020 TfL projected 49% of its income would be from fares a total of 4.9 billion pounds.

However, with the pandemic and lockdowns, advise during this period has been to only make essential journeys on public transport to stop the spread of the virus and so frontline workers can travel around as safely as possible.

In April last year, TfL said their income has fallen by 90%.

Other measures including limited passenger numbers on busses and school service only have seen a fall in travellers on buses.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said: ‘We have today agreed with the government that our funding will be extended until 18 May on the same terms that have applied to our funding for the second half of 2020/21.

“We continue discussions with the government on our need for further financial support and a long-term capital funding deal. This is vital for us to support a strong and robust recovery from the pandemic and to provide confidence to our UK-wide supply chain.”

The extension means £260 million will be added to the existing Funding Package which will be extended until 18 May.