07/09/2010

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)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

17 April 2012
Tube Workers Set Date For Strike
London Underground construction and maintenance workers have voted for 72 hour strike action next week. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which represents around 1,000 staff on the Tube Lines contracts, said its members will walk out at 4pm on Tuesday until the same time on Friday.
15 March 2011
500 Days To Go Until London 2012 Games
Tickets to the Olympic Games are now on sale and Foreign Office staff around the world are marking this key milestone in the run-up to London 2012. Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "In just 500 days, the world’s gaze will turn to the UK as the lights go up on the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games.
30 April 2014
52% Of Tube Services Continue Despite Strike
London Underground (LU) is operating 52% of Tube services today despite the strike called by the leadership of the RMT union. LU carried 56% of its usual passenger numbers this morning, which is a record for a strike day. Around 80% of stations are open and services are running on 10 of the 11 lines.
14 November 2003
Two Tube lines disrupted by strike action
There has been serious disruption to commuter travel in parts of London today as staff at two Tube lines walked out on a 24-hour strike. There was no service on the Circle line and the Hammersmith & City line was reduced to a shuttle service between Edgware Road and Hammersmith. Staff walked out at 9.
05 February 2014
London Tube Staff On 48-Hour Strike
Underground customers are enduring chaos as Tube workers strike over proposed job cuts and ticket office closures. RTM and TSSA unions began the 48-hour walkout at 21:00 GMT on Tuesday. The Government announced plans to close all ticket offices and cut 950 jobs.