TfL boss: Waterloo and City line can be opened “pretty quickly” when demand returns
Transport for London’s commissioner has this morning guaranteed that the Waterloo and City line will reopen, but said that other lines were currently being prioritised.
Andy Byford told City A.M. that the line was still closed for “practical” reasons.
“But it absolutely will reopen, the only question is when. That can be a decision that we take pretty quickly if the situation changes,” he said.
“There really isn’t the ridership right now in the city to justify its opening and but also in parallel, the drivers who run the Waterloo and City line also are qualified to run the Central line, and the Central line is the greater need right now.
“The ridership on the Central line means we have to have every operator we can possibly assign to keep it going.”
The route – London’s second-most intensively used after the Victoria line – has been closed since lockdown began in March.
The line, which connects the Square Mile to commuter hub Waterloo, is a crucial artery for City workers.
He added that TfL was itself currently facing staff shortages due to the coronavirus, which meant it needed to focus on priority services.
“We’re not somehow immune from the ravages of Covid-19. We also have people off sick”, Byford said. “We do have staff shortages so we are prioritising the Central line and I make no apology for that.”
TfL data shows that ridership in the City has dwindled due to the new lockdown, with just 40,000 trips made to stations in the Square Mile last Friday. That’s around five per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Speaking at a webinar this morning, Byford said that his priority was to negotiate a four to five year funding package with the government to set TfL on the path to recovery after the coronavirus crisis.
The transport network has thus far been in receipt of two six-month bailout packages, but Byford said that the “hand-to-mouth, begging-bowl approach” had to end.
He added that the network could return to financial sustainability in terms of operating costs by 2024 if a long-term deal was agreed.