HOURS after schools had closed for summer and with the great holiday getaway in full flight, an email marked “confidential” finally arrived at Transport for London. It was 10pm on Friday, July 22. In the preceding two years, TfL executives had become accustomed to late-night missives from the Department for Transport as they pleaded for funds to keep the Tube and buses running. Here at last, it was hoped, was the final deal that would allow TfL to maintain and upgrade the capital’s transport network and stand on its own feet financially from next April.
