As set out in Transport for London's Quarter 3 (Financial year 2018/19) performance report, available online at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/quarterly-progress-reports, the current total debt is £11.6 billion, of which £10.3 billion is long term debt.
The main sources are: Business Rates Retention - funded from a proportion of local business rates and paid to us from the GLA. This is the largest source of grant income to TfL. GLA precept - funded from Council Tax receipts and set annually by the Mayor.
256. Paragraph 1 of Schedule 10 provides that TfL is not to be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown and its staff and property are not to be regarded as civil servants or property of the Crown.
TfL lost 95% of its fares income when the pandemic hit, and while passenger numbers on the Tube have recovered to roughly 65% of normal use, the transport body continues to struggle because “many commuters have not returned to a five-day week while there are few international tourists”, said the Standard.
Since TfL was created in 2000, investment in the system has created a more reliable and safe system. For example, on London Underground reliability has improved significantly, with the excess journey time due to delays reduced by 40% since 2000.
As a result, roughly 40 per cent of the nearly £19bn cost has been paid for by London's businesses. This is not money that would have otherwise been spent in other ways, but new money on top of existing tax contributions, with the balance coming from London government, Network Rail and general government funds.