A report published today by the Corporation of London finds that transport delays in London are costing City firms £230 million a year.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport told ePolitix.com: "The government is committed to investing substantial and unprecedented amounts on London's transport.

"The funding for Transport for London for 2003/4 is some £3.455 billion - a 50 per cent increase on the 2001/2 allocation.

"We are spending more in London on transport per head than in the rest of England.

"With regard to the tube, modernisation is underpinned by an unprecedented long-term funding commitment from government averaging £1 billion a year over the next 7 and a half years.

"The plans will deliver an overall increase in the capacity of the system of some 12 per cent by 2012, and by 15 per cent early in the second review period of the contracts. London Underground forecasts that this will be sufficient to keep pace with rising demand."

Forum Response: Corporation of London

Michael Snyder, chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee at the Corporation of London said: "City firms consistently tell us that improving the transportation system should be policy-makers' highest priority in London.

"The Corporation of London funded the research to provide policy makers with evidence of the damage that existing delays cause.

"The findings are clear - London needs more money spent on its crumbling Victorian infrastructure if it is to grow and develop and produce even more wealth for the rest of the country and the economy."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

A spokesman for the IoD told ePolitix.com: "The transport situation in London is becoming totally unacceptable. Businesses are already relocating not just out of London but out of the UK because of our decrepit transport infrastructure.

"Lost working hours, reduced productivity and staff recruitment and retention problems are all part of the daily struggle for London firms because of transport delays.

"Unless serious investment is made to improve the situation London will start suffering serious economic consequences."

Forum Response: Federation of Small Businesses

David Bishop, deputy head of press and parliamentary affairs at the FSB, told ePolitix.com: "The Corporation of London report suggests that transport delays are costing upwards of £230m a year, demonstrating the desperate need for greater investment in infrastructure improvements and additional transport provision.

"London businesses have been promised that money is now flooding into the transport system as a result of the congestion charge. They are rightly asking to be shown what extra tube trains are running, how many extra buses there are, and what additional bus routes the charge has paid for."