Transport for London (TfL) said last week that it had no money to pay for its share of the Elephant and Castle tube station upgrade, but recommended that the build go ahead anyway, adding that it would find the money at some stage.
The upgrade is meant to connect with the Bakerloo line upgrade and extension through Elephant and Castle station. The Bakerloo Line upgrade has been shelved because of a lack of funds – despite organisations like TfL and Southwark and Lewisham councils saying repeatedly that it is key to plans for development along the Old Kent Road and further south-east.
TfL’s money problems stem in large part from the Covid-19 crisis, when it cut services drastically to slow the spread of the virus. TfL has been propped up by £4bn in emergency funding from the government over the past eighteen months.
Many organisations have gone through similar troubles but TfL is different. As the agency’s commissioner Andy Byford said himself, the agency is key to London’s recovery from the crisis. In the same report TfL said that it needs an extra £1.7bn to keep services running until 2023.
Elephant & Castle tube station ‘currently undeliverable as originally envisaged’, says TfL
Whether or not this includes money for the Night Tube is unclear. A petition to get the service, suspended at the start of the Covid crisis, back up and running to help protect women out late at night has reached more than 115,000 signatures. The safe running of the ‘night-time economy’ like pubs and clubs is key to the recovery, just as much as commuter services.
Elephant and Castle Tube station and the Night Tube illustrate both sides of the challenge facing TfL.
The agency needs to keep upgrading and improving its infrastructure and facilities – like the station – because they are key to supporting London’s long-term growth and development – like along the Old Kent Road. But at the same time TfL needs to get the Night Tube back up and firing on all cylinders now or as soon as possible, and that costs money too.
TfL’s latest short-term government funding deal runs out in December – whether transport bosses get what they ask for next will have serious significance for Londoners’ lives, both in the short- and long-term.