A
The prominent London MP said on Thursday that the government should consider taking Transport for London out of Sadiq Khan’s hands due to the ongoing tube strikes and proposed bus cuts.
Nickie Aiken, a Conservative MP from the cities of London and Westminster, said the government should consider intervening to prevent further damage to Londoners.
On Tuesday there was the fourth shutdown of the metro network since March due to an RMT march due to the loss of 600 station staff and the threat to pensions of TfL staff.
On Thursday, Khan blamed the government for the lack of funding that has resulted in proposals to eliminate 22 bus routes and reduce frequencies by nearly 60 more.
Ms Aiken, a former Westminster council leader, told the Standard: “Sadiq has shown that he is not fit to run TfL. I think the time has come for the Department of Transport to study removing him. We cannot continue. something must give.
“Every few months, Sadiq goes hand in hand, without any proper strategy to reverse TfL’s finances apart from cuts in services. I have run a £ 3 billion organization. I know what it’s like to deal with government cuts, but you find efficiency and new ways of working there.
“I have been inundated with concerns from voters, especially those over 60, about the bus plans that Sadiq has to cut his bus or change it so dramatically that they will have to get two or three buses to get there. to their destination “.
Khan, who was questioning bus plans today at the mayor’s turn to ask questions, said proposals to cut 4% of services were just the “tip of the iceberg” and could lead to a cut. overall of 18%, i.e. the loss. of 100 routes, unless a new Government bailout could be agreed.
But he warned that with the current deal expiring on Friday, there was not enough time for TfL to properly consider a new deal. “It’s a belief that with more than 24 hours to go we have no offer,” he said.
More than 9,000 Londoners have responded to plans released by Transport for London earlier this month to cut off the central London bus network. The loss of 16 daily or 24 hour routes and six night bus services has been proposed.
The proposals, which follow government orders to reduce TfL’s running costs, have aroused the fury of Conservative MPs in central London concerned about the loss of key routes such as 11, 14, 24 and 74.
It came when an alliance of London business organizations called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to provide a new bailout for TfL amid concerns over a “hasty drop in government support for TfL”.
READ MORE
The current TfL deal ends on Friday and is seeking £ 900 million more to keep metro and bus services running this year, in addition to a long-term capital deal to repair roads and bridges that are ‘will collapse and modernize the subway.
Mr Khan, who appeared at the mayor’s questioning session at City Hall on Thursday morning, was faced with questions from Labor and the Lib-Dems about the impact of the bus cuts.
Members of the London Assembly fear that the loss of so many routes will affect the poorest Londoners disproportionately and say it is occurring as demand for bus travel continues to rise, reaching 82% of pre-pandemic levels. last week and 86% on the weekend.
Elly Baker, a Labor member of the assembly questioning Mr Khan, told the Standard: “If we cut them, we will enter this spiral of user decline. I blame the Government.
“I don’t think we should cut it in general [the bus network] back. I don’t think we need fewer buses. We need more buses, especially when we look outside London. “
TfL officials have privately warned assembly members that the proposed cuts only constitute a 1.6% reduction in bus mileage, suggesting that more needs to be found to achieve the 4% target.
But TfL sources say the four per cent target refers to the cost of operating the bus network, and that the proposals – in addition to other cuts already made – should be enough.
Conservative MPs like Greg Hands, Aiken and Felicity Buchan oppose the plans.
The Unite union told Mr. Hands who supported his campaign to save 11, 14 and 74. He said 48 drivers of the Stockwell bus garage would have to be relocated “or lose their jobs” if all 11 were removed.
Mr Hands, a Conservative MP for Chelsea and Fulham and climate change minister, told the Standard: “Sadiq Khan proposes butcher crucial bus routes for my constituents and hundreds of thousands of Londoners.
“He has been granted four government bailouts totaling £ 5bn and still wants to end routes like the 11 that have been around for a century or more. As climate change minister, we need Khan to promote public transport, and not to save him. “
The threatened bus routes are: 4, 11, N11, 12, 14, 16, N16, 24, 31, N31, 45, 72, N72, 74, N74, 78, 242, N242, 349, 521, C3 and D7.
The letter from the London Property Alliance on behalf of groups such as the London Chamber of Commerce and London First, says: “We see investment in TfL as key to the government’s leveling agenda and to launching an economy. stutters as we face an unprecedented situation.economic headwinds.The risk of recession from the latest economic data is severe.
“Our members have witnessed a hasty drop in government support for TfL with growing concern. We are concerned that this approach is at odds with good economic and transport policy.”
Seb Dance, deputy mayor of transport, said there had been no progress in getting a new government bailout. “They are breathing down our necks in any part of the spending,” he told the TfL finance committee yesterday.
A Khan spokesman said: “The mayor is furious on behalf of Londoners that TfL will have to consider changes to its bus network because of the conditions the government imposes on its emergency funding agreements which were only necessary as a result of the pandemic.These conditions made clear the need to make substantial savings and included proposals for TfL to reduce service levels on the London bus network by four per cent.
“The route changes that TfL consults aim to cause the minimum possible distortions to passengers, while making the savings required by the Government.
“If the government forces London to enter a managed decline scenario by not offering a good funding deal when the current one expires, it would have to cut up to 18 per cent of bus services, which equates to more than 100 routes. That would have a catastrophic effect on London’s transport network and we are doing everything we can to avoid this scenario. “