Latest news with #TransportForLondon
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
More than 2,000 TfL staff earned over £100k last year
More than 2,000 members of staff at Transport for London (TfL) earned over £100,000 last year, it has emerged. The number of employees on six-figure salaries in 2024-25 surged by 900 since last year, according to the network's annual accounts. Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner, received £639,164 in total remuneration, including performance-related pay and a retention bonus. This is an increase of almost £115,000 compared to the previous year, with his bonus reaching £187,902. The network, which is overseen by Sir Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, defended Mr Lord's salary by saying that an equivalent role in the private sector would pay significantly more. A spokesman said that it was 'essential that we continue to attract and retain staff across all disciplines'. More than 100 managers on the Tube saw their salaries hit six figures due to two pay rises, one of which was backdated from the previous year. TfL employs more than 28,000 staff and has an annual budget of around £9 billion. It made an operating surplus of £166 million in 2024-25. But the network missed its own targets for passenger numbers and income from fares. It attracted fewer customers on buses and the Docklands Light Railway than the previous year, and the number of Tube passengers grew more slowly than hoped. The service has recently come under fire for its lack of action over fare evasion after Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, confronted fare dodgers at Stratford station. Keith Prince, transport spokesman for the City Hall Conservatives in London, told The Standard: 'To see the number of TfL staff earning six figures balloon – at a time when Tube trains are covered in graffiti and the police face devastating cuts – smacks of tone deafness from Khan's TfL.' Gareth Bacon, the shadow transport secretary, said: 'If the mayor stays on these tracks, passengers will be left paying even more for less – stuck on overcrowded, graffitied platforms, as Transport for London's £13 billion debt continues to spiral. 'Sadiq Khan's TfL is a six-figure gravy train hurtling off the rails with bonuses for the bosses and delays for the rest of us.' Earlier this month, a group of Londoners filmed themselves removing graffiti from inside Tube trains as they were fed up of the vandalism being ignored. The group, founded Joe Reeve, 28, said they were 'doing what Sadiq Khan can't' by cleaning up Bakerloo Line carriages. It comes as London Underground drivers – who are already comfortably inside the top 10 per cent of all salaried employees in Britain – are threatening to go on strike if bosses refuse to pay them £76,000 a year. The Telegraph understands that TfL has offered Tube drivers a 2.8 per cent pay increase. But a union newsletter seen by The Telegraph said: 'We demand a pay rise that protects us from the real cost of living. As always, RMT bases our pay negotiations on the retail price index (RPI).' A spokesman for TfL said: 'TfL is a complex £9bn billion-a-year turnover organisation that is central to the success of London and the UK – getting millions of Londoners and visitors to where they need to go each day, and delivering complex engineering projects across the city to improve transport for everyone. 'We are investing billions in improving the transport network and now, for the second year in a row, have achieved an operating surplus for operations. 'This means that our revenues cover the costs of running the existing transport network, with any surplus directly invested back into the transport network.' They added: 'In a highly competitive market, in which comparator companies pay their top executives significantly more than TfL, it is essential that we continue to attract and retain staff across all disciplines of the organisation, which includes ensuring that pay increases are achieved across all levels of colleagues.'
Daily Mail
2 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
3 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.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
TfL set to regulate pedicabs in London for the first time amid safety concerns
Plans to regulate the use of pedicabs in London are set to advance next year, following a consultation that has found overwhelming support for tougher safety standards. The consultation, carried out by Transport for London (TfL) found that out of nearly 7,700 respondents, 75% currently felt unsafe while using a pedicab in the capital. The rickshaws, common sights in London's main tourist destinations, are not currently regulated. Nearly all (97%) of participants backed mandatory insurance for pedicab operators, 95% support the introduction of criminal background checks for drivers, and 85% believe that pedicab fares are too expensive. Draft policy proposals include a TfL licensing system, along the same lines as that currently in place for London taxi drivers, with requirements including a minimum age of 18, a UK or EEA-valid drivers' licence, and English language skills. TfL are also considering the introduction of insurance requirements, alongside safety equipment mandates. The proposals could come into force from 2026 – but will become more detailed over the coming months, and are subject to a second consultation at the end of the year. The use of music by pedicab drivers sparked particular frustration among the survey's respondents – including over 2,400 comments, double the number relating to any other topic. 96% of participants were in favour of volume limitations on music and other audio from pedicabs, and 78% believe these controls should be in place 'all the time'. Helen Chapman, TfL's director of Licensing & Regulation, said: 'Pedicabs can provide a unique and green way to see the capital. 'However, they have an impact on the safety of the road network and are currently unregulated. 'We look forward to working with the pedicab industry to ensure it is run fairly and safely and continues to be a sustainable mode of transport.' The move comes in the wake of parliamentary calls for regulation last year – which culminated in the Pedicabs (London) Act, granting TfL the statutory powers necessary to go through with the licensing system. The transport authority proposes to take the lead on enforcement of any new regulations themselves, with all expenses recouped through the fees for pedicab licences. In a campaign response to the survey, the London Pedicab Welfare Association (LPWA) said: 'While the intention behind this requirement is to ensure the safety of passengers and regulate the industry, it has created challenges for pedicab drivers who do not possess a driving licence.' The LPWA instead proposed alternatives, including the introduction of a theory test for drivers to obtain their licence. Ros Morgan, chief executive at the Heart of London Business Alliance, welcomed the proposals, saying: 'For far too long, members of the public have been at the mercy of rogue operators who do nothing to enhance the reputation of the West End. 'Implementation of the scheme could not come soon enough.'
The Independent
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Introduction of new air-conditioned tube trains delayed
The introduction of new Piccadilly line trains has been delayed, with the first trains now expected to enter service in the second half of 2026, pushed back from an initial target of late 2025. Transport for London (TfL) attributes the delay to the complex nature of integrating the modern fleet with the 120-year-old Tube network, citing engineering challenges. The new trains will offer significant upgrades, including 10 per cent more capacity, wider double doorways, air conditioning, real-time digital displays, and onboard CCTV. These state-of-the-art trains are designed to be lighter and more energy-efficient, consuming 20 per cent less energy than existing models. TfL's Chief Capital Officer, Stuart Harvey, expressed regret over the delay but emphasized the critical need to ensure safety and top condition before the trains begin service.
