Last month it was confirmed that bus and light rail operators in the UK would be sharing £150 million of additional funding – the last set of pandemic related funding to help services to continue whilst passenger numbers recover. At the time the split of this funding was not announced although in a recent press release from the Department for Transport this was included.
The latest funding – amounting to over £37 million – is split as follows:
- Manchester Metrolink – £20.5 million
- Tyne and Wear Metro – £7.3 million
- West Midlands Metro – £2.7 million
- Sheffield Supertram – £4 million
- Nottingham Express Transit – £3.3 million
Key takeaways from these figures are that Blackpool is receiving no funding and that despite the lack of service running at the moment the West Midlands Metro does. As expected Metrolink receive the bulk of funding. Docklands Light Railway and London Tramlink are not included because they are included in the Transport for London settlement.
This funding is due to last until the end of October 2022 and is the last set of pandemic funding due to be given to the light rail sector.
John Fenwick, Director of finance and resources at Nexus, said: “We stressed the need throughout last year for an extension to Government financial support for the Tyne and Wear Metro and this additional funding through to October is welcome as we continue our recovery. Customer numbers remain lower than pre-Covid levels and growing inflation means that this extra funding is essential in order to maintain the Metro service.”
Strange how this is the last round of pandemic funding in a week when the number of Covid cases are higher than at the so-called ‘peak’ of the pandemic. It seems to be over because the government tells us we are post-Covid now, despite one thousand a week dying of it still. October will probably see another lockdown if things go on at this rate.