No crowded trains or buses “anytime soon”, says TfL boss UK News

The number of passengers on TfL services is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least March next year, according to the network official.

Speaking at a London Assembly meeting this morning, TfL Commissioner Andy Byford told members that “we are seeing a return” to normal levels of traffic on TfL services, the number of passengers on the metro is currently around 40% of that before the pandemic. levels and buses at about 60 to 65 percent.

But the commissioner revealed that in the “best case scenario” the number of passengers on the transport network would only reach 90% of normal levels “by the end of the fiscal year”.

Mr Byford said: “We are seeing a return to (normal) use of public transport, which is good. This is what we want, we want to avoid a repossession by car at all costs, with all the inconveniences that would entail. But we are aware that, of course, our recovery will depend on what happens on June 21, and also what the traffic will be with people returning to offices and taking cultural attractions in central London.

“We don’t expect to be back to 100% of the traffic anytime soon. What we’re saying is that in the best-case scenario, we could be at about 90% of normal ridership by the end of the fiscal year, so around March 2022. ”

TfL would still face significant financial challenges, even with passenger numbers at 90% of normal levels, with the remaining 10% equivalent to ‘£ 1 billion in lost revenue each year’.

Mr Byford told the London Assembly today that TfL does not expect a ‘doom and gloom’ scenario “where central London is finished and that is it for mass displacement in the center London, “but predicted a” hybrid model “with people commuting at staggered times only a few days a week.

The commissioner said he and TfL “forecast our budgets to gradually increase to around 90% in ridership, at best by the end of this fiscal year.”

Last week TfL secured a new emergency government funding deal that will provide £ 1.08 billion between June and December this year if certain conditions are met, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said “ this is not the deal we were hoping for. And reiterated its request that a long-term financing solution be agreed to reduce TfL’s overdependence on tariffs.