With Transport for London about to run out of money, according to previous comments from Mayor Sadiq Khan, it seems like the taxpayer will be offering a further cash input to keep services running.
Sky News reports it has spoken to sources who say that the Government has agreed to give a further £1 billion, but that it expects the Congestion Charge Zone to be widened, fares to be increased and free travel entitlements for children and pensioners to be scrapped.
However, the report adds that the money being is unlikely to last to the end of the year.
A Department for Transport source is quoted as saying TfL wants double that amount.
Sky News continues that a person close to the mayor said negotiations told its reporter, “Conditions such as extending a £15 congestion charge to the North and South Circular and taking free travel away from children and older people would be totally unacceptable to the mayor and he would not ask Londoners to accept them in these exceptionally difficult times.”
It’s also clear that extending the Congestion Charge zone will not be a quick fix, with infrastructure required to capture vehicle registration numbers across that much wider area.
