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原文传递 Borismasters could be scrapped if TfL fails to get funding deal

题名：	Borismasters could be scrapped if TfL fails to get funding deal
正文语种：	eng
作者：	MARK LYONS
摘要：	The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has warned that Transport for London (TfL) may have to withdraw its 1,000 strong fleet of New Routemasters unless the UK government agrees a long-term funding deal. The oldest of the buses, which began entering service during Boris Johnson's second term as mayor, are now due a mid-life refurbishment but TfL says it may not be able to meet the £31m cost of this. The programme, which is expected to take up to five years to complete, will include upgrades to the fire-suppression system and replacement of the driver's seat height adjuster in addition to a retrim of passenger seats and external respray. The threat to the bus so closely associated with Johnson's period as mayor represents a furthering of the acrimonious back-and-forth over a long-term funding deal for TfL. It came after Johnson told a Downing Street press conference that Khan needed "to initiate a sensible and pragmatic fares policy and not the retrograde one that we saw at the early stage of the current mayor's term." As Buses went to press, there was still no sign of a long-term government financial support package for TfL to replace the current arrangements that expired on February 4. Khan has continued to argue that, in the absence of an agreement, TfL will have no option other than to plan for managed decline (Look in on London - January). This could see over 100 bus routes, around a seventh of the network, withdrawn along with frequency cuts to another 200 services. He claims that TfL's financial woes are solely the result of a collapse in passenger numbers due to Covid-19, while the UK government has counter-claimed that Khan has overseen more than £9.5bn of waste at TfL during his period of office.
出版年：	2022
期刊名称：	Buses
卷：	74
期：	804
页码：	22-22