COMMUTERS in London are being advised to work from home tomorrow due to severe disruption caused by another Tube strike.
Around ten thousand members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out on Tuesday and Thursday in a dispute over jobs, pensions and conditions.
Transport for London (TfL) said it expects severe disruption across all Tube lines on strike days, while the planned action is also likely to severely affect services on Wednesday and Friday, particularly in the morning peak.
TfL has criticised the industrial action, saying there are no proposals on pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs because of the proposals it has set out.
A statement reads: "TfL will do all it can to provide as many transport options as possible, but customers are advised to check before they travel, consider if their travel is essential and work from home if possible. They should leave more time for journeys and travel at quieter times where possible."
Read our tube strikes live blog below for the latest updates…
- Joseph Gamp
Strikes on Tuesday & Thursday to go ahead
Severe service interruptions are expected on Tuesday and Thursday when members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) walk out.
Transport for London (TfL) said it expects severe disruption across all Tube lines tomorrow and Thursday.
The planned action is also likely to severely affect services on Wednesday and Friday, particularly in the morning peak.
- Joseph Gamp
Why is the night tube resuming?
Thousands signed a petition in the wake of Sarah Everard’s kidnap, rape and murder by twisted Met cop Wayne Couzens, for the night tube to resume.
Many want the tube service to come back to create a safer way of travelling around London at night.
- Joseph Gamp
History of the night tube
The first lines to take on the 24-hour service were the Central and Victoria lines on August 19, 2016.
Central line services run between Ealing Broadway and Loughton/Hainault while the entire Victoria line stays open.
Services were then launched on the Northern line and the Piccadilly line joined the network.
And in July, 2017, it was announced the London Overground, also referred to as the Orange Line, will operate all night on Friday and Saturdays between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction – with the service to then be extended to Highbury & Islington in 2018.
The Northern line ran a 24-hour from Morden via Camden Town and on to Edgeware/High Barnet with no service on the Bank or Mill Hill East branches.
Piccadilly line ran between Cockfosters and Heathrow Terminal 5 with no services on the Terminal 4 loop or between Uxbridge and Acton Town.
- Joseph Gamp
What is the night tube?
The night tube is the metro in London that runs throughout the night on certain days and lines.
Former Mayor Boris Johnson’s brain child was held back by a year as the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) clashed with TfL over pay and conditions.
But the project took off in 2016 and after a staggered start all five proposed lines are running all-night services for Londoners on the weekends with the London Overground now set to join them.
- Joseph Gamp
Advice on travelling around London
Services are likely to be much busier than usual.
Here are some tips from Transport for London (TfL):
- Allow extra time to complete your journey
- Consider walking or cycling, as other lines and services are likely to be busier as people seek alternative routes
- Follow our safer travel guidance throughout the strike
- Check status updates before you travel using our travel tools below
Alternative ways to travel
Here are alternative ways to travel around London during the Tube strike:
Buses and roads are expected to be busier than usual and travellers are advised to allow more time for their journeys and to walk or cycle where possible.
Some boroughs offer electric scooters to rent, which is the only way to legally ride one in London.
These areas are Camden, City of London, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.
Renting an e-scooter typically costs between £3.25 and £3.40 for a 15-minute journey, according to TfL.
What should commuters do?
Commuters should check before they leave for their commute to see whether the lines are heavily affected.
Those travelling will be able to use the Official TFL website to check for closures and disruption.
New strikes come after workers walked out last month
Workers walked out last month, with strikes on the Central and Victoria lines.
It came after TfL scrapped the 200 part-time Night Tube drivers during the pandemic, with regular drivers now asked to work occasional night shifts instead.
In late 2021, RMT announced they plan to strike every weekend on the Night Tube from January 7, 2022, through to June in “an on-going fight to prevent the ripping up of staffing arrangements that would wreck the work life balance of drivers,” according to a statement sent to City A.M.
Strike action has been carried out since the Night Tube was restarted during the last weekend in November 2021 after being suspended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
TfL's finances dealt a severe blow during pandemic
TfL’s finances were dealt a severe blow by the drastic fall in revenue raised by fares during the pandemic.
Critics of the Mayor of London have also claimed that his pledge in 2016 not to raise fares has contributed to the situation.
Mr Khan, 51, who is also the chairman of TfL, had to rely on a number of bailouts from Westminster to prevent London Underground and the capital’s buses from grinding to a halt.
- Joseph Gamp
Sadiq Khan 'considering shutting tube network for days at a time'
Workers have been told not to come into work on Tuesday, March 1 and Thursday, March 3.
According to the Evening Standard, the decision to strike is over plans to axe up to 600 jobs posts in a bid to save cash.
Transport for London (TfL) is thought to be in a blackhole of £15 billion with London Mayor Sadiq Khan said to be "considering shutting London's tube network for days at a time".
- Joseph Gamp
Huge rises on rail season tickets
A 3.8% rise on rail fares would lead to hikes in the cost of annual season tickets, such as:
- Brighton to London (any route): Up £194 to £5,302
- Liverpool to Manchester (any route): Up £105 to £2,865
- Neath to Cardiff: Up £70 to £1,922
Rail passengers brace for largest spike in fares since 2013
Train passengers in England and Wales will be hit with the largest fare rises in nearly a decade from Tuesday.
Campaign group Railfuture accused the UK Government of "stoking the fire of the cost of living crisis" by enabling an increase in ticket prices of up to 3.8%.
The cap on fare rises in England and Wales matches the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation for July 2021.
It will be the steepest increase since January 2013, according to figures from industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).
TfL pleads for RMT to call off strike action
The announcement of strike action comes just three days after the Government agreed to continue its bailout for TfL while a deal is worked out to secure its long-term funding.
Andy Lord, TfL's chief operating officer, warned of disruption.
He said: "TfL haven't proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out.
"I hope the RMT will get around the table with us, continue talks and call off this disruptive action, which will cause huge frustration for our customers and further financial damage to TfL and London's economy when we should be working together to rebuild following the pandemic."
Government accused of 'strangling life out of TfL' despite new £200m deal
The Government has been accused of "strangling the life" out of Transport for London (TfL) despite announcing a new £200 million funding deal.
The announcement is the fourth funding settlement of the pandemic and takes Government support close to £5 billion.
The Government said the settlement, which runs until June 24, includes conditions to put TfL on track to financial sustainability by 2023 and the potential for a longer-term capital settlement "dependent on the mayor and TfL's co-operation".
But union leaders and opposition politicians criticised the move, made ahead of strikes next week by London Underground workers worried about their jobs, pay, pensions and working conditions.
Manuel Cortes, Transport Salaried Staffs' Association general secretary, said: "The funding arrangement shows how the Government's micromanagement of TfL is strangling the life out of it.
"TfL can't make plans and is in a position of stagnation and decline under the Government's oppressive approach.
"The Tory Government continues to fail to grasp the importance of transport to our economy and to all of our communities. The complete lack of capital funding from today's deal will continue to hit TfL's supply chains which sustain jobs across Britain."
What time will the strikes take place tomorrow?
There will be two days of chaos this week due to a planned walk-out on the London Underground network.
Action will take place between 00:01 and 23:59 on Tuesday and Thursday this week.
The action is separate to the ongoing Night Tube strikes, which is due to continue until 19 June.
- Joseph Gamp
Tfl describes strike as 'extremely disappointing'
TfL has described the action as "extremely disappointing" and urged the RMT to "get around the table with us".
In a statement TfL warned: "Londoners whose journeys rely on Tube connections are advised to work from home if they can, consider different modes and allow extra time for essential journeys."
It added that no jobs would be lost as part of the proposals but vacancies would not be backfilled.
- Joseph Gamp
When is this week's strike action taking place?
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out on Tuesday and Thursday.
Transport for London (TfL) said it expects severe disruption across all Tube lines on strike days.
The planned action is also likely to severely affect services on Wednesday and Friday, particularly in the morning peak.
- Joseph Gamp
Picket lines to be mounted outside Tube stations this week
Picket lines will be mounted outside Tube stations across the capital on Tuesday and Thursday.
The Government announced a new funding deal for TfL last week, which will run until the end of June.
- Joseph Gamp
RMT defends strike action
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Our members will be taking strike action because a financial crisis at LU (London Underground) has been deliberately engineered by the Government to drive a cuts agenda which would savage jobs, services, safety and threaten their working conditions and pensions.
"These are the very same transport staff praised as heroes for carrying London through Covid for nearly two years, often at serious personal risk, who now have no option but to strike to defend their livelihoods.
"The politicians need to wake up to the fact that transport staff will not pay the price for this cynically engineered crisis.
"In addition to the strike action, RMT is co-ordinating a campaign of resistance with colleagues from other unions impacted by this threat."
- Joseph Gamp
TfL criticises industrial action
A statement reads: "TfL will do all it can to provide as many transport options as possible, but customers are advised to check before they travel, consider if their travel is essential and work from home if possible.
"They should leave more time for journeys and travel at quieter times where possible."
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