Latest news with #BakerlooLine
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Sadiq Khan isn't clearing up London Underground graffiti because it will help him get more money from central Government, Tories say
Sir Sadiq Khan is avoiding cleaning up graffiti on the London Underground as it will help him get more money from central Government, TfL insiders have alleged. Sources at Transport for London (TfL), have claimed that the graffiti-covered carriages on London's Bakerloo line are assisting the London Mayor with his goal of receiving a multi-million pound Government handout for new trains. Speaking of Sir Sadiq's alleged deliberate avoidance of the vandalism, an insider is said to have told The Daily Telegraph: 'Anything that helps make the case for new trains is going to be helpful. 'We would rather the graffiti wasn't happening, obviously. But if this is going to help, we want to replace them and need we need money from the Government to do it'. It comes after shocking video footage posted online showed fed-up commuters taking matters in their own hands and cleaning up the graffiti. Joe Reeve, 28, founder of policy group Looking for Growth, led the clean up effort, insisted he was 'doing what Sadiq Khant' after TfL reported a 'significant increase' in the number of graffiti incidents on its trains. Now, it has been alleged that Sir Sadiq is avoiding the removal of the vandalism in a bid to boost his political goals. The London Mayor is currently lobbying the Government to fund a replacement of the Bakerloo Line's 1970s rolling stock with new trains. Sir Sadiq, chair of TfL, has also called for an extension of the line to Lewisham, south-east London. However, concerns have been raised about a lack of funds for the historic line - with its extension and reconstruction previously estimated at a cost of between £5million and £8million. Speaking of the London Mayor's (pictured) alleged deliberate avoidance of the vandalism, an insider is said to have told The Daily Telegraph: 'Anything that helps make the case for new trains is going to be helpful' Keith Prince, transport spokesperson for the City Hall Conservatives, described the assertion that the graffiti has not yet been removed due to a lack of Government funding as 'nonsense'. Calling on Sir Sadiq to solve the growing issue, he told The Daily Telegraph: 'Pull the other one, Sadiq, and actually use your powers as TFL chair to solve this blight'. Susan Hall, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, previously told MailOnline that Mr Reeve and his team of 'activists' had 'put Khan and TfL to shame by showing how easy it is to clean up our Tube'. She added: 'It's disappointing that the Mayor constantly has to be humiliated into acting, but we look forward to legions of TfL staff being put to good use wiping down the remaining graffiti which has adorned Tube carriages for disgracefully too long.' Meanwhile, Mr Reeve, who lives in Lambeth, South London, described feeling 'pretty frustrated' with Sir Sadiq given the extent of graffiti seen across the line. Speaking to the The Standard, he added that three train drivers have thanked the group for their efforts, with one telling them: 'At least someone's doing something'. He said: 'I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier. 'Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better. I'm pretty patriotic. 'I love London, and I think it should be the best city in the world. I had the option to move to the US for work, but I want to stay in the UK and see it get better.' The viral footage of the activists came after Neil O'Brien, Conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, tweeted last month: 'Mad what Khan has allowed to happen to the Bakerloo Line — looks like 70s New York.' While trains were previously taken out of daily service by TfL to remove graffiti, they are now cleaned overnight when the network is not running. TfL claims that it works to remove graffiti as quickly as possible - but where it cannot be removed easily, it is covered if possible and cleaned during engineering hours. The aim is to keep trains out on the network and minimise passenger delays. In 2021, Sir Sadiq released a set of throwback images showing the sorry state of the tube network in previous decades, warning that without urgent Government investment the transport network could see significant cuts. In 2021, Sir Sadiq released a set of throwback images showing the sorry state of the tube network in previous decades (pictured), warning that without urgent Government investment the transport network could see significant cuts Calling on the UK Government to invest in London's public transport, the London Mayor added: 'Unless the Government provides the long-term funding needed to maintain our public transport network, there will be no choice but to make significant cuts to services just as demand is growing again. 'This would mean fewer, less frequent and more run-down bus and tube services for Londoners, making it more difficult to travel around the city'. A TFL spokesperson said that it was 'completely untrue to suggest that any graffiti is left for longer than necessary for any reason'. Adding that the body are 'removing graffiti from the Tube network as fast as possible', they said: 'We have deployed an accelerated cleaning programme in response to the specific increase in graffiti on the Central and Bakerloo lines.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Sadiq Khan ‘avoids cleaning Tube graffiti' in push for extra funding
The graffiti epidemic on the Tube is 'helpful' for Sir Sadiq Khan, Transport for London (TfL) insiders have admitted. Sources said the declining condition of the Bakerloo line was benefiting the Mayor of London's campaign for a multi-million-pound Government handout to fund new trains. But the remarks prompted accusations that Sir Sadiq had chosen not to completely eradicate the vandalism because it boosted his political ambitions. A group of Londoners earlier this month cleaned graffiti from the interior of Bakerloo trains themselves after a proliferation of vandalism on the line. Vandals have defaced the interiors of the line's trains with tens of thousands of 'tags', a form of signature which gives them kudos among fellow graffiti artists. Sources at TfL, which Sir Sadiq leads, said it welcomed 'anything that helps make the case for new trains' – including the graffiti. An insider said: 'In terms of the graffiti, anything that helps make the case for new trains is going to be helpful. We would rather the graffiti wasn't happening, obviously. 'But if this is going to help, we want to replace them and we need money from the Government to do it.' Sir Sadiq is lobbying the Government to fund new trains for the Bakerloo line to replace its existing 1970s-era rolling stock. He has also called for the line to be extended to Lewisham, in south-east London, but has said TfL could not afford either without receiving additional taxpayer cash from central Government. Keith Prince, transport spokesman for the City Hall Conservatives, said Sir Sadiq could 'solve this blight' of graffiti if he wanted to. He said: 'The idea that graffiti on the Tube is this shockingly bad purely because Starmer won't give Khan money for the Bakerloo line is just nonsense, and nonsense that Londoners will see right through. 'Pull the other one Sadiq, and actually use your powers as TfL chair to solve this blight.' Former police officers believe the Bakerloo and Central lines are particularly targeted by graffiti vandals because they do not have any CCTV cameras in their carriages. Graham Wettone, a retired Metropolitan Police officer, said: 'The 'tag' is the type and style of initials or icon left by the so-called artist and has become in some places an accepted form of 'modern art'. 'The absence of CCTV is likely to be one significant factor because there is less of a deterrent to the offenders.' Andrew Trotter, former chief constable of the British Transport Police, added that not having CCTV made it difficult to even identify the culprit, let alone prosecute them. He said: 'You always want CCTV. I think one of the great things about trains these days is that just about every train, every carriage, every platform is covered. 'Any time there is an investigation, you know your officers are very good at getting the CCTV and tracking people through the system. So it is a real shame.' Rory Geoghegan, a former police officer and founder of the Public Safety Foundation, said the graffiti epidemic would not end unless CCTV was retrofitted to the Bakerloo and Central lines. He added: 'The mayor and TfL urgently need to get a grip. Secure the depots, clean the trains, retrofit CCTV, and make clear that public space will be protected. Anything less is a failure of leadership.' TfL has no plans to install CCTV, however, because it believes this would be 'prohibitively expensive'. 'We're already talking to the Government – and we've already said several times – about wanting to replace the trains,' an insider said. 'So it wouldn't make a great deal of sense to retrofit CCTV on the Bakerloo Line, just from a financial perspective.' Graffiti is also widespread on the Bakerloo line because TfL no longer has enough of the half-a-century-old rolling stock to take vandalised trains out of service to be cleaned, which is the policy on other lines. That means transport chiefs are forced to continue using vandalised trains to maintain a regular service on the line. TfL said its 'accelerated cleaning programme' was removing 3,000 'tags' a week from Bakerloo and Central line trains. A spokesman said: 'We previously withdrew trains from service as soon as they had been vandalised, but with reduced availability due to ageing trains, this isn't always possible without impacting services. 'This is why we are working to secure investment in the Tube network, to replace and upgrade trains and ensure we can deliver the world-class transport network that Londoners and visitors deserve and expect.' The spokesman added: 'We are removing graffiti from the Tube network absolutely as fast as possible. It is completely untrue to suggest that any graffiti is left for longer than necessary for any reason. 'We have deployed an accelerated cleaning programme in response to the specific increase in graffiti on the Central and Bakerloo lines. Teams are removing graffiti 24/7, and are currently removing more than 1,000 tags per week on the Bakerloo line and more than 2,000 on the Central line.'
Telegraph
09-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Khan accuses Reeves of ‘levelling down London'
Sir Sadiq Khan has accused Rachel Reeves of 'levelling down' London after she refused to hand over billions for infrastructure projects. The Labour Mayor of London has been battling with the Treasury for funding to pay for the extension of the Bakerloo line and the Docklands Light Railway. He also wanted the Chancellor to give him the green light to impose a tourist tax on visitors to the capital, and to provide millions extra for the Metropolitan Police. But Ms Reeves's spending review, to be unveiled on Wednesday, is not expected to include most of Sir Sadiq's demands. A source close to the Mayor said he would continue 'battling' to get more money out of the Treasury even if he fails at the spending review. They said: 'Over the past nine years as Mayor, Sadiq has fought to deliver for London – in the best interests of Londoners and the whole country. 'We know that when London does well it means the whole country does well, and that it will simply not be possible to achieve national growth ambitions without the right investment and growth in our capital. 'We must not return to the damaging, anti-London approach of the last government, which would not only harm London's vital public services, but jobs and growth across the country.' The spokesman added: 'Sadiq will always stand up for London and has been clear it would be unacceptable if there are no major infrastructure projects for London announced in the spending review and the Met doesn't get the funding it needs… 'It's also important to recognise that parts of London still have some of the highest levels of poverty anywhere in the UK. 'Sadiq will always stand up for London and has been crystal clear that the way to level up other regions is not to level down London.' Reeves's policies A source at the Treasury pointed out that in the year since the Government came to power, Ms Reeves had come out in favour of a third runway at Heathrow and the expansion of Gatwick, Luton and City airports. The Treasury has also expanded late licencing in the capital, given approval to the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, allocated money so that HS2 will run to London Euston and provided money for free school meals. Last week, Ms Reeves announced £15 billion more to be spent on transport infrastructure outside London and the south-east, part of what was seen as a rebalancing of government priorities away from the capital Research released on Monday from IPPR North found that if the north of England had received the same per person spending as the capital in the past decade, it would have received £140 billion more – enough to build seven Elizabeth lines. Over the decade to 2022/23, each year London received £1,183 per person, while the north of England got £486 per person and the Midlands £455.
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
'We're doing what Sadiq Khan can't!' Fed-up commuters take matters in their own hands and scrub graffiti off Tube trains
They are the UK's oldest passenger trains in regular scheduled use, and are known for their rather tired feel and appearance given they started running in the 1970s. But a group of volunteers so angered by graffiti-covered carriages on the London Underground 's Bakerloo line have taken matters into their hands to clean them up. The team led by Joe Reeve, 28, are now attracting praise from Transport for London (TfL) train drivers and passengers who have thanked them for their efforts. Mr Reeve, who is the founder of a policy group called Looking for Growth, has been critical of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan - saying he is 'doing what Sadiq Khant'. Speaking about wider concerns about the state of the Tube, he told The Standard: 'I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier. 'Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better. I'm pretty patriotic. 'I love London, and I think it should be the best city in the world. I had the option to move to the US for work, but I want to stay in the UK and see it get better.' He added: 'Sadiq has been mayor for a while and has said in videos he's proud of what he's achieved. I - and a lot of people - feel pretty frustrated with him.' Mr Reeve, who lives in Lambeth, South London, said three drivers have thanked the group for their efforts, with one telling them: 'At least someone's doing something.' TfL claims that it works to remove graffiti as quickly as possible - but where it cannot be removed easily, it is covered if possible and cleaned during engineering hours. The aim is to keep trains out on the network and minimise passenger delays. Susan Hall, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, told MailOnline: 'A group of activists in one morning have put Khan and TfL to shame by showing how easy it is to clean up our Tube. 'It's disappointing that the Mayor constantly has to be humiliated into acting, but we look forward to legions of TfL staff being put to good use wiping down the remaining graffiti which has adorned Tube carriages for disgracefully too long.' It comes after shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick highlighted fare dodging on the TfL network last month. He released a video in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station, and it quickly went viral. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, told MailOnline today: 'The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. 'We are working closely with the police to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour on the network, with over 2,500 police and police community support officers and 500 TfL enforcement staff patrolling the network at all times. 'We work hard to ensure that our customers and staff feel safe when travelling on the network and continue to strengthen our capability to deter and detect fare evaders and ensure our trains and stations remain a pleasant and clean environment for passengers.' The current rate of fare evasion on the TfL network is estimated at 3.4 per cent of journeys, and the transport body wants to cut this to 1.5 per cent by 2030. The issue has also been highlighted by the ongoing Channel 5 documentary 'Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law' which is next airing this Sunday at 9pm. The Bakerloo line runs from Elephant and Castle to Harrow & Wealdstone, with the current set of 1972 Mark 2 stock trains now more than half a century old.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Watch: Londoners remove graffiti from Tube in swipe at Sadiq Khan
Credit: X/ @isnit0 A group of Londoners have filmed themselves removing graffiti from inside tube trains in a swipe at Sadiq Khan. The group, founded Joe Reeve, a 28-year-old Londoner, say they are 'doing what Sadiq Khan can't' by cleaning up Bakerloo Line carriages. It comes after Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, confronted fare dodgers on the tube in a video which has been viewed millions of times on X. Mr Reeve said: 'I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier. 'Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better,' he told the London Standard. Mr Reeve is the co-founder of political lobbying group Looking For Growth, which says it was founded to challenge 'high energy costs, excessive bureaucracy, and a Government that has lost its ambition'. Mr Reeve, who was wearing a hi-vis vest with the slogan 'Doing what Sadiq Khant', was joined by Tom Harwood, a GB News presenter. Mr Harwood posted on X: 'I'm absolutely sick of seeing endless disgusting graffiti on the tube.' In a video, he added: 'We have been wiping away, swiping away, with eco-friendly graffiti remover… 'A couple of guys with cheap graffiti remover can make it look slightly less terrible. You can too!' The Bakerloo Line has the oldest passenger trains in regular scheduled use in the whole of the UK. Its 1972 Mark 2 stock trains are now 53 years old, well beyond their design lifespan of 40 years. The original 1972 Mark 1 trains were used on the Northern Line, but were withdrawn in the mid-1990s when faster and more spacious rolling stock was introduced. Although TfL wants to order replacement trains from German company Siemens, doing so is estimated to cost around £1.9 billion. Rail magazine reported earlier this year that even that price could soar because it is based on adding trains to an existing order with Siemens for new Piccadilly Line stock. If that order is fully delivered before a decision is made about the Bakerloo, the production line would have to be restarted. TfL was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
