London’s transport chief has rejected government claims that his organisation was responsible for the latest failure to seal a long-term funding deal for the bus and Tube network.
Sky News has learnt that Andy Byford, the head of Transport for London (TfL), wrote to Whitehall officials this week to protest at ministers’ portrayal of ongoing talks between the two sides.
Mr Byford’s letter complained that TfL had met the conditions required for a comprehensive funding settlement and said the Department for Transport (DfT) had failed to clarify why it believed that was not the case, according to one government source who had been briefed on the correspondence.
On Wednesday, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said that “TfL and the Mayor [of London, Sadiq Khan] still haven’t provided vital information which we have repeatedly asked for”.
TfL and City Hall have rejected government assertions about the content of their discussions over a period of many months, during which a series of short-term funding extensions have been agreed – frequently at the last possible moment.
The latest deal runs for just two weeks.
Last month, Sky News revealed that TfL and the government had entered a formal dispute period, further straining ties.
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TfL has been wracked by uncertainty over its finances since the onset of the pandemic, with a slump in commuter traffic having a devastating impact on its revenues.
Mr Khan has warned that cuts to bus and Tube services under its “managed decline scenario” would need to begin imminently unless a long-term financing deal can be reached.
One bright spot has been the recent opening of the long-awaited Elizabeth Line, or Crossrail, service, which Mr Byford hailed as “a truly historic day for the capital”.
TfL has been contacted for comment about Mr Byford’s intervention.
