Transport for London to request further billion pound bailout

The coronavirus outbreak has cost transport for London £6.4bn Credit: PA

Transport for London is set to ask the government for another emergency bailout after putting the cost of the coronavirus outbreak at £6.4bn.

The financial crisis will hit crucial improvements to London’s public transport network with key projects indefinitely postponed or delayed.

The Bakerloo Line extension, Crossrail 2 and the DLR extension to Thamesmead will be sidelined.

Work on other schemes including a planned Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf ferry will be ‘paused’. The refurbishment of Central Line trains will take longer.

TfL was given a £1.6bn interim bailout in May after lockdown dealt a hammer blow to its income from fares. 

Transport bosses calculate a further £2bn is needed to keep the organisation afloat until the end of March 2022 and £2.9bn in the following financial year.

A lack of revenue from fares has significantly impacted Transport for London Credit: Transport for London

TfL’s finances were also hit by a loss of income caused by delays to Crossrail. The planned opening of the line next Summer was again postponed last night after bosses concluded it was ‘not achievable’.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has indicated driverless tube trains will be a condition of any future funding deal between the government and TfL.

The mayor will go ahead with his plan to extend Ultra Low Emission Zone tolls to all roads inside the North and South Circulars.