Transport for London still needs Government help for major transport projects despite making a £162 million annual “profit”, Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned. TfL is expected to declare its first ever “operating surplus” at the end of the month – cash it can reinvest in the capital’s public transport network.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made no mention in Wednesday’s Budget of a long-term funding deal for TfL who have been seeking about £500 million a year for four or five years but was handed only a one-year £250 million deal last December.

Mr Khan described the £162 million operating surplus as “fantastic” but told the TfL board: “Let’s be quite clear: Even though this will be a historic year, with an operating surplus, we will not have enough money to invest in rolling stock, to invest in signalling, to invest in major roads and renewal. We really do need a long-term deal from the Government.

(Picture – Yay Images)