Theresa Villiers, MP for Barnet and former Transport Minister, has published the following article on TfL finances.
“I know how crucial good public transport is for my constituents. For hundreds of years, the transport system has shaped Barnet as a community, from the coach traffic of the eighteenth century to the birth of the modern suburb with expansion of the railways in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
In the modern era reliable public transport continues to be vital for residents to get to work, see their friends and family, and live the lives they want to lead.
Our public transport system was hit hard by the pandemic. Fares revenue collapsed when lockdown was imposed, and even after the removal of all Covid restrictions, recovery has been slow.
This came at a time when TfL’s finances had already been weakened by a number of decisions by the Mayor of London, such as unfunded freezes on some fares, and letting the Crossrail project fall behind schedule.
So the Conservative Government stepped in to bail out TfL. Successive packages agreed since the start of the pandemic in 2020 have seen HMG providing over £5 billion in emergency funding to keep our capital’s transport system running.
Without this massive financial intervention, there would have been a crisis in London’s public transport leading potentially to major reductions in service levels and big increases in fares.
On 30 August last year, a further settlement was agreed between the Department for Transport and TfL which will support almost £3.6 billion worth of projects and secure the long-term future of London’s transport network.
This includes just under £1.2 billion of upfront funding, and matches the Mayor’s own pre-pandemic spending plans. The settlement will ensure the network is not only protected against potential lost revenue caused by uncertainty of post-pandemic demand, but will also enable the delivery of a number of projects set to significantly improve travel across London.
These include brand new Piccadilly line trains, as well as modernisations and upgrades across the District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and Circle lines in addition to the long-awaited repair of Hammersmith Bridge, completion of the Bank station upgrade project, and vital improvements to Elephant and Castle station.
That said, I understand the frustration felt in my constituency that so many Northern Line trains turn back at Finchley Central rather than running to the end of the line in High Barnet. I want the Mayor to reverse his timetable change that caused this problem.
I’ve also sought and received assurances from TfL that there are no plans to split the Northern Line into two separate tube lines. I have always opposed such a split because it would mean far more people having to change at Camden Town. This project is not in the TfL programme for the years ahead and they are not funded to complete the massive work it would require at Camden Town.
Another key concern for constituents is the change to the route of the 384 bus, a controversial decision by the Mayor which has left a number of residential streets without this popular bus service. I strongly oppose this change. I am campaigning to restore the previous route and I also want to see the return of the 84 bus from Potters Bar through Hadley Highstone.
This was previously a commercially run route which was cancelled after the Covid-related fall in passenger numbers. The Mayor should step in and fund it.
Instead, he is pushing ahead with his deeply unpopular and unjustified ULEZ extension, whilst failing to take action to restore these two vital local bus services. He needs to scrap his ULEZ plans and restore the 84 and 384 service.”
