Sadiq Khan publishes plan to cut waste at 'flabby' TfL

Travelcard and monthly Oyster card users will face inflation rises

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has set out plans to cut costs from a "flabby" Transport for London (TfL) while increasing capacity on the Tube network.

A new five year business plan aims to cut waste at TfL and extend the Bakerloo Line into south London.

Mr Khan also reiterated his promise to freeze fares until 2020.

But TfL will have to save more than £3bn through job losses and cheaper ways of working.

Mr Khan said the new plan would deliver a "modern and affordable transport network".

The draft business plan, which will go before the TfL board next week, envisages savings of £800m a year by 2021 from TfL's current £11.5bn annual budget.

The business plan was described as heralding the "biggest ever overhaul in the history of the organisation".

GLA Conservative transport spokesman Keith Prince told BBC Radio London's Vanessa Feltz show the draft plan would increase borrowing at TfL by 46% to £12bn and "slash reserves to 35% of their current level".

"[This is] typical Labour, arrive with a full larder and when they leave the cupboard is bare" he added.

The Green Party has warned the budget may fail unless new measures to reduce traffic are introduced.

'Vital for success'

"This plan just doesn't add up" Green Party Assembly Member Caroline Russell said.

"With buses having to compete for space with this many cars, the mayor will struggle to attract more bus passengers and get his transport budget to balance."

TfL is already under pressure to make cuts of at least £591m a year by 2018, when it will lose its government operational grant.

Draft budget in figures

• The plan reveals the mayor's flagship fare freeze will cost an estimated £640m over the next five years

• TfL forecasts revenues from fares will rise to £6.3bn by 2021 - driven partly by receipts from the new Elizabeth Line

• It will try to raise £3.4bn from its property portfolio by 2023, including building 10,000 homes on spare land

• Nearly 50 senior management posts have been earmarked for closure saving £40m

• TfL plans to spend £50m a year less on consultants

• It also aims to save up to £2bn by 2021 through renegotiating contracts and striking better deals with suppliers

Improvements to the Tube network will see the Bakerloo line extended to Lewisham by 2029, two years earlier than expected.

The beleaguered Piccadilly Line will get new trains and signalling to boost capacity by nearly two thirds.

The business plan includes moves already announced to spend £770m on cycling schemes over the next five years and several new east London river crossings including the Silvertown Tunnel.

TfL will investigate whether to extend the Night Tube scheme on to more underground lines.

Mr Khan said by "reorganising a flabby TfL and finding major efficiency savings within the organisation, we're securing this record investment without burdening Londoners with further hikes in TfL fares".

"The greatest city in the world must also have a genuinely world-class transport system, and this is vital for the future success of London's economy. Today sets out the scale of our ambition," he added.