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Transport for London is facing a £400m hole in its budget as passengers desert increasingly rowdy and overcrowded Tube services.

TfL fares income is projected to fall £239m below expectations this financial year, with commercial income - from advertising, retail and property - £160m down, according to confidential documents seen by the Standard.

The Tube is the worst hit, with 20m fewer journeys being made between September and December, bucking the trend of increased travel in the run-up to Christmas. So far this year, Tube passenger numbers are almost four per cent, or 38 million journeys, below target.

At the same time, the number of people cycling in central London is at record numbers, up 5.8 per cent year on year to 173,000 journeys a day within the congestion charge zone.

Concerns have been mounting that rush-hour delays and cancellations on the Tube and train network have caused tempers to fray, prompting TfL to ask British Transport Police to reinstate “local policing teams”.

“There has been a rise in aggression between passengers, pushing and shoving, verbal disputes and threatening behaviour at the busy commuter times when services are at peak capacity,” a report to today’s [Tuesday’s] TfL board said.

Crime on the TfL network is up almost seven per cent year on year, driven by increased reporting of sexual offences on the Tube. A TfL survey found almost one in three Londoners were were worried about personal safety, with the threat of terror attacks and overcrowding the main concerns.

Tube income is currently £80m less than planned. This is especially challenging for Mayor Sadiq Khan - who has committed himself to a four-year fares freeze - as the Tube is the only TfL passenger service that makes a profit.

Further problems will come in April when TfL loses the last of its Government subsidy to help run the Tube and bus network. This was once worth £700m a year.

TfL also faces the additional £200 million annual cost of running new Crossrail, or Elizabeth Line, services from December, and has seen expenditure soar as it hurries to get the £14.8bn project open on time.

It insists that an efficiency drive has helped to offset the downturn in fares revenue. Plans to buy a total of 27 new trains for the Northern and Jubilee lines have been shelved.

Mr Khan and TfL have have attributed the downturn in Tube fares revenue to a range of factors, from the “uncertainty of Brexit” to a fall in the number of train passengers entering London.

The rise in online shopping, and popularity of Netflix and Deliveroo in preference to visiting the cinema and restaurants, are said to have reduced off-peak travel - though the Tube figures have been boosted by the expansion of 24-hour weekend Night Tube services.

However, Tube ridership is tumbling almost twice as fast as on London-bound trains, while the Office for National Statistics said economic growth in the three months to December was better than expected.

Bus passenger numbers are down one per cent year on year - but bus income is £17m better than expected.

However, the number of bus miles operated is due to be cut by seven per cent over the next five years. This means the only way to keep bus income stable is for bus occupancy to increase by 11 per cent.

Caroline Pidgeon, deputy chairwoman of the London Assembly transport committee, said TfL’s financial planning was based on passenger predictions that “no longer stack up”.

She said: “It is time for the Mayor and TfL to be totally honest with Londoners as to what passenger numbers and fare income will realistically be in the year ahead at a time when TfL is cutting the frequency of buses in every part of the capital.”

A TfL spokeswoman said: “London is leading the way in showing how you can keep fares affordable, while still investing record amounts in creating world-class infrastructure. Although ridership is currently slightly lower than originally budgeted, ridership on the bus, Tube and rail services is regularly outperforming that elsewhere across the country – helped by the fares freeze, the Hopper fare and improved reliability.

“Our extensive efficiency programme has already helped reduce operating costs this year by £194m and is ahead of budget and more than offsets the reduction in revenue. The introduction of the Elizabeth line later this year will further improve ridership.”