TRANSPORT union RMT threatened strike action today over a government bailout of Transport for London (TfL) imposed at the cost of the biggest fare hikes since 2016, restrictions on free travel and likely cuts.

The union warned the Department for Transport (DfT) against “imposing austerity cuts and direct control over transport in London.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the £1.6 billion bailout, consisting of a £1.1bn grant and a £505 million loan, on Thursday.

TfL’s income has fallen by 90 per cent in the last two months as the coronavirus crisis has led passenger numbers to decline by 95 per cent on the Tube and 85 per cent on buses.

But the government revealed today that, as part of the deal, free travel for children in London will be temporarily suspended and people over 60 or with a disability will only be allowed to travel for free outside peak hours.

Bus fares – scrapped to help protect drivers from Covid-19 –  will be reintroduced and the congestion charge levied on motorists in central London will resume.

The DfT also announced that TfL will introduce above-inflation fare rises next year.

It said that it will immediately review TfL’s finances and structure, including “the potential for efficiencies.” 

Two government “special representatives” will also join TfL’s board “in order to ensure best value for money for the taxpayer,” the DfT said.

Warning against cuts, RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “London transport workers have been vital to fighting Covid-19 and any attacks on their pay, jobs and conditions arising from this imposed settlement will be a complete betrayal.”

The unin would be seeking an urgent meeting with both London mayor Sadiq Khan and Mr Shapps “to make clear London transport workers will not pay the cost of the crisis.”

Warning that Boris Johnson seems to be “back in charge” of the capital’s transport, he said: “We will not accept one penny of austerity cuts imposed by Whitehall or passed on by city hall as part of this funding package, and our resistance will include strike action if necessary.

“We are also deeply concerned that this is a sign of wider austerity conditions to be imposed on the transport industry across the UK.”

Mr Khan accused the DfT of “making ordinary Londoners pay the cost for doing the right thing on Covid-19.”

He said he had “no choice” but to accept the proposal and said that it was “the only deal the government put on the table.”