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So much nonsense being spewed in some quarters about @tfl finances at the moment. Here are some facts ...
Before @sadiqkhan became Mayor, operating costs in @tfl increased every year. He put a stop to that. (1/7)
Before @sadiqkhan became Mayor, operating costs in @tfl increased every year. He put a stop to that. (1/7)
Before @sadiqkhan became Mayor, someone (the now Prime Minister) agreed with the then Chancellor (George Osborne) that the Government operating subsidy @tfl used to get - worth c£700m per year - would be abolished.
Before @sadiqkhan became Mayor, borrowing at @tfl stood at about £9bn (an increase of £7bn during the time Boris Johnson was Mayor). It’s gone up by less than £3bn since then. (3/7)
During the time that @sadiqkhan has been Mayor, on a like for like basis, and before Covid hit, the @tfl operating deficit was on course to have been cut by 86% and cash balances to be up by 31%. (4/7)
Even if @sadiqkhan had increased fares by RPI (not that any Londoner would have thanked him for it), and banked all the increase over 4 years, it might have kept @tfl afloat for another 4 weeks before needing Government support in the Covid crisis. (5/7)
And I know, because I’ve seen it with my own eyes, that the financial discipline applied in @tfl over the last 4 years is like nothing the organisation has seen in its history. (6/7)
I also know the funding model is broken. Look at how the transport systems of other major, comparable cities are funded and you can see the reliance on fare income is the problem that Covid exposed in London, not financial profligacy. (7/7)
