The British government will be providing financial support for transportation in London, including the Tube and buses. The support would be given until March 2024, according to authorities.
Transport for London said Tuesday that the government would be providing £1.16 billion or $1.35 billion in support for London’s transport, including the Tube and buses. The support would be given until the end of March 2024.
The funding package would replace the last bailout – the fourth since the pandemic began in 2020.
The TFL operator said it is expected to become financially sustainable before the end of the period in 2024.
Meanwhile, Progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders joined British workers at a trade union rally in London Wednesday, encouraging workers to stand together to push back at what he described as “corporate greed” with billionaires amassing more wealth.
The rally was hosted by the RMT union, which has been at the center of the strikes that hindered the country’s transport network in recent months as workers demand better pay and working conditions to counter the impact of inflation.
“People across the world need to stand together to tell the oligarchs they cannot have it all,” said Sanders at the rally at Trade Union Congress headquarters. “No one can tell me from a moral perspective or from an economic perspective that it makes any sense at all that so few have so much and so many have so little.”
This comes as British workers from a wide range of fields have decided to go on strike. The British government has also urged restraint with employers, companies facing rising costs, and workers looking at forecasts that show inflation continuing to increase until next year.
Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to say in remarks Thursday that the rising energy costs were a reminder that the United Kingdom cannot be beholden to international markets or “foreign despots” to meet its energy needs. This comes as Europe is facing rising energy prices due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In one of his final remarks before stepping down as prime minister, Johnson is also expected to defend his handling of the energy crisis.