Sadiq Khan forced to hike congestion charge after Government's TfL bailout
TfL (Transport for London): Sadiq Khan has been forced to raise the congestion charge to £15 a day to help fill a black financial hole in London's coronavirus-caused transportation system, the Evening Standard may reveal.
The Mayor will also avoid reducing his prices under the terms of a government bailout, ensuring bus tickets and Tube will rise above inflation from January. This summer, free travel for 1.5 million London schoolchildren will be temporarily axed and over 60s will no longer be able to travel at peak times for free. Information emerged today on the amount Londoners would have to pay in exchange for the £ 1.6bn in emergency Transport for London funds. TfL was down to its last two months of cash and faced a fall in sales of £ 4 billion due to millions of passengers being unable to fly during lockdown. The agreement reached last night was said by government ministers to be a disgrace to Mr. Khan. Today the Mayor himself acknowledged it was not the offer he wanted and described it as a "sticking plaster." Mr. Khan said: “It was the only deal the Government put on the table and I had no choice but to accept it to keep the Tubes and buses running.” Foreign Minister James cunningly said that the government had been forced to bail out TfL and strip the mayor of having sole transportation decision-making powers because he "displayed a complete lack of interest in London's good governance." Shaun Bailey, the Tory mayoral nominee, said the "profligate mayor" was the prime cause of the financial crisis at TfL. He said Mr. Khan needed to justify "why the finances of TfL were in such a sorry state" Mr. Khan maintained that TfL's finances were in good shape before the pandemic hit the UK and that Londoners were punished for not using public transportation. City Hall said "urgent discussions" were going on with the government to work out all the information of how free travel limits would be enforced on under-18s. The Freedom Pass, which is used by a million people over 60 to openly ride on the Tube and buses, will be discontinued during the morning and evening rush hours. Passengers with disabilities should not risk their free riding. Do not forget leaving your valuable comment on this piece of writing and sharing with your near and dear ones. To keep yourself up-to-date with Information Palace, put your email in the space given below and Subscribe. Furthermore, if you yearn to know about the error occurred and YouTube down, view our construct, ‘YouTube down: YouTube Is Down for Users in Europe and America’. Read the full article
