Rivals leave London as Sadiq Khan says taxpayers will have to bail out Tube Business

Sadiq Khan warned ministers had no choice but to bail out Transport for London as new Covid restrictions would cause commuter numbers to collapse.

The mayor of London slammed Boris Johnson for ruining the finances of the capital’s transport authority, despite new research showing Londoners were less willing to return to office compared to Paris, Hong Kong, New York and Berlin before the last restrictions were announced.

TfL, which is chaired by Mr Khan, is scrambling to agree on a Westminster bailout before its last funding runs out on Saturday.

Khan said: ‘The responsibility for pandemic regulations rests entirely with the government, and the reason TfL’s finances have been so decimated by the pandemic is that Londoners did the right thing, followed the rules. government and stayed at home.

“Now that the government is once again telling us to work from home if we can, it is more important than ever that ministers reach a long-term sustainable funding deal. “

The comments came as new research showed the number of people passing through London stations is 31% lower than before the pandemic. This compares to a drop of just 5% in Paris, 24% in Berlin and 27% in New York.

Hong Kong stations, for their part, are 1 pc more frequented than before the crisis, according to the Global Cities Survey launched by the London Property Alliance.

The figures were seized by the leaders of the opposition.