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Use TFL surplus to fund wi-fi on tube

Thursday, 2nd February 2012

Lawrence Webb, UKIP's London Mayor candidate, believes that a Transport for London (TFL) operating surplus should be used to fund wi-fi on the capital's tube network.

TFL today released a financial report that reveals an operating surplus of £310 million has been amassed over the last nine months. The report also forecasts that TFL will underspend its capital budget by £257 million.

The report predicts an overall annual operating surplus of £338 million by the end of the financial year.

Plans are already underway to provide 120 tube stations across London with wifi following a successful trial at Charing Cross. UKIP would like to see the introduction of technology that allows tube passengers to access wifi while travelling.

Lawrence Webb, UKIP's London Mayor Candidate, said: "The sales of smartphones, android phones and iPads are higher than ever before so the logical step is to ensure tube travellers can use them on their journey.

"Such a move would allow people to convert the 'downtime' of travelling to an opportunity of catching up on e-mails or continuing their work.

"With London being branded as 'the UK's premier digital capital', it makes complete sense to use this money to put in wifi across the London Underground network.

"Ideally I would see this funding matched by a sponsor to ensure the idea became a reality sooner rather than later.

"Wifi on underground train systems is already happening in cities like San Francisco, Paris and Bangalore - there is no reason why London should not be the same."