LONDONERS are to be hit by massive cuts to transport services and Tube and bus fare rises of over 7% next year, thanks to the government cuts announced today.
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Leaks from the government seen by the BBC reveal that Transport for London has been ordered to slash its budget by 6% every year for four years, wiping £2 billion off its funding.
With an annual budget at the moment of around £9 billion, that represents a huge removal of cash.
One way TfL is to make up the short fall is by hiking up Tube and bus fares by a reported 7% come January 2011.
Another way is to scrap investment and maintenance schemes. Long-term plans for desperately needed refurbishments on the Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly lines are for the chop, as they have been costed at £4 billion.
The third way to cut costs is to hold down wages and slash jobs. Both options have already been taken this year, with predictable responses from transport unions.
On the plus side, Crossrail is to go ahead, but that won’t be ready for a decade or more.
In the meantime Londoners, already saddled with the most overpriced public transport system in Europe, had better get used to paying even more for a lower level of service regularly suspended by strikes.
