Centre for London response to City Hall analysis on economic cost of TFL “no deal”

Responding to new City Hall analysis of the economic costs of “no deal” for Transport for London, Nick Bowes, Chief Executive of Centre for London said:

“This new analysis is a stark warning of what could happen without a long term, sustainable funding plan for Transport for London.

“Slashing investment in London’s transport network system is not the way to go – it may look like an attractive way to save money, but instead stores up even more problems down the line. Decades of threadbare investment and the awful state of the network in the 1980s and 1990s is a reminder of the mistakes to avoid. It is precisely because of the rolling investment programme over the last 20 years that TfL has rescued the system from decay and decline.

“A return to deteriorating infrastructure and worsening services risks making it more difficult for Londoners to go about their lives, get to their jobs and visit friends and family. It could also result in lost jobs across the country as the companies making trains, signalling, track and other critical equipment lose out too – hardly the aim of the government’s levelling up agenda.

“It’s critical that the government and the Mayor come to an agreement as soon as possible.”