Transport Bailouts North-South Divide

[Sunk]

London gets £1.8Billion:
// Transport for London (TfL) has secured a £1.8bn government bailout, to keep Tube and bus services running until March 2021.
The funding will ensure TfL can address its financial shortfall due to covid-19 //

Manchester gets £44Million
// The government has announced it is extending coronavirus support to buses and trams outside London with £44m allocated to Metrolink, which was at risk of running out of money. //

Fair?

[bobbinwales]

A big diffrence yes, would need to see the detail's but LT is a massive buss and tube train system compared to the Manchester tram's

[mushroom25]

you've not said where your information came from - but if I take it at face value, £44m has been allocated to the Manchester Metrolink (tram) network.

TfL has got £1.8bn, but bear in mind that it's not just responsible for tubes and red buses, but also London's main road routes, cycling provision, river services, TfL rail services, black cabs and trams. It also has financial responsibility for the black hole that is Crossrail.

on that basis, Metrolink has probably got a fair deal.

[Sunk]

Every other City in the UK was forced to privatise its local bus services which meant unprofitable routes were cut. The Private bus companies throughout the country have not received any bailout money, despite suffering losses like London.

The Government exempted London, and services and unprofitable routes remained funded by the taxpayers.

[mushroom25]

// Every other City in the UK was forced to privatise its local bus services which meant unprofitable routes were cut. //

not every other city. in the UK there are about 20 municipal bus companies, the largest of which (Lothian, Cardiff, Blackpool, Reading, Newport, Warrington and Ipswich) still run extensive networks in their area.

and the private bus operators have received financial assistance.
https://www.ft.com/content/ffe49183-6df1-4842-a07f-16c52b8f0ba0

[Sunk]

TfL gets around £5Billion annually from Government and local taxpayers to provide those services mushroom.

Manchester MetroLink gets zilch Government funding.

[bednobs]

you just said they are getting 44m

[mushroom25]

// TfL gets around £5Billion annually from Government and local taxpayers to provide those services mushroom. //

here's how TfL is funded:-
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/how-we-are-funded

[Sunk]

Mushroom,

TfL’s budget is £10Billion, and it raises £5Billion in fares. The rest comes from the Government’s (and local author) Magic Money Tree.

[TheChair]

London needs more because:
1. It has 4.5 times the population.
2. It was still trying to recover from the enormous deficit that Boris managed to achieve when he was mayor.

[tiggerblue10]

As London is the largest city in the UK with the highest population, wouldn't it require more funding to keep all public transport going?

[jourdain2]

I was v. cross when I heard about this on the news today.

[jourdain2]

I was v. cross when I heard about this. We have 2 buses a week; one on Wednesday to one local town and another on Thursday to another tow. They return 2 hours later. Neither goes near the Doctors' Surgery. London may have more people, but it is being fed whilst the rest of us starve. They could do with fewer buses, I'm sure, then we might get a bus on Saturday too!!!

[New Judge]

It needs to be understood that Greater London (which TfL covers) has an area of some 600square miles. From Uxbridge in the west to Dagenham in the east is about 35 miles by road. That’s roughly the distance from Manchester to Sheffield.

There is simply no comparison between the transport facilities required for London with those of somewhere like Manchester. It’s a different ball game entirely. And that's before you begin to consider the different make up of each area and the patterns of travel that people normally undertake.