London held to ransom: Only driverless Tubes can set it free, writes Grant Shapps

Yet, despite that fact right on our doorstep, not a single Tube line has been converted to driverless operation.

London - the city that built the world’s first Underground and once led the way in transport innovation - has been left trailing behind. Paris has done it. Singapore has done it. Copenhagen has done it. London hasn’t.

And the reason is simple: Sadiq Khan prefers to bow to the unions than stand up for Londoners.

This week’s strikes are just the latest reminder of what his cowardice costs us.

In a matter of days, disruption on the Tube has drained an estimated £230 million from the economy. That’s £230 million lost in business, in growth, in productivity.

Meanwhile, the capital descended into chaos.

Buses overflowing. Cyclists weaving through gridlocked traffic. Streets choked with cars. Workers and families stranded. London held to ransom once again. And all while fully qualified Tube drivers, whose fixed starting salaries sit at £68,096, down tools to protect their privileges.

When I was Transport Secretary, I gave Transport for London a £4 billion bailout during Covid. But I attached a condition: that driverless trains had to be introduced.

That wasn’t just about protecting taxpayers, it was about forcing London to face the future. But Khan has buried it. He has done nothing. Why? Because he dances to the tune of the RMT.

He talks endlessly about his "green agenda," but refuses to back the single biggest innovation that would make London’s transport greener, cleaner and more efficient. It is rank hypocrisy.

The benefits of driverless Tubes are obvious. More trains running more often, easing the crush at rush hour. Greater reliability and fewer delays. Cleaner journeys, thanks to energy-efficient systems and regenerative braking. Lower costs for taxpayers in the long term. Less congestion on the roads, as more people choose the Tube over their cars. And above all, a network that finally belongs to the twenty-first century, not the last.

The place to start is clear: the Victoria Line. It’s self-contained, it’s high capacity, and it’s the perfect candidate for conversion.

From there, the rest of the network can and should follow.

That is the way to free London from the grip of union barons, to deliver a greener and more reliable transport system, and to show that the capital is serious about growth, competitiveness and innovation. Londoners deserve a transport system that works for them, not one held hostage by outdated practices and political weakness.

Driverless Tubes are not some futuristic fantasy - they are a necessity. Every day Sadiq Khan blocks them is another day he chooses the union bosses over the travelling public.

That is the choice. And London can’t afford his answer any longer.

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Grant Shapps was a Transport Secretary under the former Conservative government.

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