Sadiq Khan has handed over an additional £200million to keep the tube on track Business

Sadiq Khan has won an extra £200m in taxpayers’ money to keep the London Underground running for the next four months.

The deal marks a breakthrough after nearly a month of frantic talks between City Hall and Westminster officials.

This is the fourth bailout package provided by the government and brings the total cost to taxpayers to nearly £5billion.

Transport for London, chaired by Mr Khan, declined to reveal any terms attached to the deal.

The authority said this “includes the continuation and development of initiatives launched under previous funding agreements with the Department of Transport”.

Previous funding deals have forced the mayor of London to look into introducing driverless tubes, a move that would put him at odds with militant union bosses.

Crucially for Mr Khan and his transport commissioner Andy Byford, however, Friday’s agreement includes the possibility of providing additional government funding for capital expenditure and upgrades.

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: “Over the past two years, the Government has repeatedly shown its commitment to London and the transport network on which it depends by providing almost £5billion in funding for emergency.

“These support packages must be fair to all ratepayers and the settlement agreed today provides enough to cover revenue losses due to the pandemic while the mayor delivers on his promises to keep TfL on the path to financial sustainability.” here 2023.”

Mr Khan said: “While I welcome and are relieved at this funding, once again the government has just provided a short-term funding agreement which will only allow TfL to continue to run transport services only for a few more months.

“This agreement refers to future capital investments for TfL, but it is essential that this is quickly transformed into a concrete commitment by the government.”

He added: “The only way to avoid deep and damaging cuts to Tube and bus services is for the government to act and provide the longer-term capital funding that TfL urgently needs.”

Mr Byford said: “The Mayor has already put forward a range of proposals which will help support TfL’s financial viability in the future, but it is essential that agreement is reached with the Government on capital support for more term during this funding period.

“This is crucial for years to come if a period of ‘controlled decline’ in London’s transport network is to be avoided.”

Meanwhile, commuters face a three-day strike on the London Underground next week after talks between Mr Khan and union bosses over pay and pensions broke down.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has announced industrial action on Tuesday and Thursday next week, which will also affect the Wednesday and Friday morning rush hours.

Union leaders blamed the mayor and his officials for standing up to a deal that would have avoided chaos, but TfL said there was no reason for a strike.