TfL set for £4bn loss as operator seeks government bailout
Transport for London (TfL) is on track for a £4bn loss this year as the capital’s transport operator continues to seek a bailout from the government.
According to papers from TfL’s finance committee, the operator is currently spending £600m a month due to the coronavirus crisis.
As a result of the pandemic, usage of London’s public transport system has dried up, leaving TfL without the fares and commercial revenue that make up 80 per cent of its revenue.
TfL has prepared an emergency budget in an attempt to balance its finances, but said that its current funding gap amounts to £3.2bn across 2020.
The operator said it was “in ongoing discussions around how this should be funded with the Department for Transport and HM Treasury”.
The disclosures, which were first revealed by Sky News, come after it was reported that TfL was looking for £2bn in support from the government.
Although it has already put 7,000 staff onto the government’s job retention scheme and paused 300 engineering projects, the measures have not been enough to offset a 90 per cent plunge in income.
According to the document, passenger levels on the tube are currently at 5 per cent of the norm, whilst bus journeys are also down 85 per cent.
Later today the government will lay out detailed advice over public transport usage as lockdown measures are slowly lifted in accordance with its coronavirus recovery strategy.
Yesterday TfL laid out its own advice, urging people to avoid public transport wherever possible and to wear a face mask if they had to use the underground.
The operator said it would begin to build up service levels but warned that it would only be able to carry up to 15 per cent of normal passenger levels and maintain social distancing practices.
According to the Times, any bailout of the network would come with conditions, such as the curtailment of projects such as the long-planned Bakerloo line extension.