Tube Strike Causes Travel Chaos In London

Millions of passengers are facing severe disruption in London today, due to a strike by London Underground workers.

Thousands of Tube staff went on a 24-hour strike yesterday evening in protest at plans to cut 800 jobs.

Limited services were operating on most lines, with services on all but the Northern Line being suspended or delayed for most of the morning rush hour. However, many stations on the Northern Line were closed. A full service did begin operating on the Waterloo and City Line, toward the end of the morning rush hour, but services on the Bakerloo, Victoria, District, Central, Piccadilly, Hammersmith and City, Jubilee and Metropolitan Lines were all partly suspended and more than 70 stations remained closed.

Maintenance and engineering staff began a 24-hour strike from 5pm on Monday, followed by station and revenue staff, operational managers, drivers and signallers from 9pm.

Further action is also planned in October and November.

Meanwhile, in a separate disupte, around 200 maintenance staff on the Jubilee and Northern lines held a 24-hour strike from 7pm on Sunday over pay and conditions.

Both the Rail, Maritime and Transport union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association have argued that the job cuts could compromise passenger safety, but London Underground has denied the claim and also pledged that there would be no compulsory redundancies, that every station that currently had a ticket office would continue to have one and that all station would remain staffed at all times.

London Underground said that while the strike had caused disruption on the network, everything possible was being done to keep Tube services operating.

An extra 100 buses have been laid on to help ease the expected travel disruption, while other measures include marshalled taxi ranks, escorted bike rides and capacity for 10,000 more journeys on the river.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has criticised the action, saying that new staffing proposals for the Underground were "moderate and sensible". He has accused the unions of "cynically deciding to try the patience" of commuters.

(KMcA/GK)