Mr Justice Gibbs refused the Rail Maritime and Transport union leave to appeal against his ruling that its strike call was "defective" because the union had failed to supply managers with details of where each group of affected workers was employed. The smaller train drivers' union Aslef is to press ahead with the planned stoppage.
The high court decision came as Ken Livingstone's London transport commissioner, Bob Kiley, resumed face-to-face talks with John Prescott aimed at breaking the deadlock over government plans to press ahead with the break-up and part-privatisation of the tube.
Union leaders reacted angrily to London Underground's resort to the courts and the fact that, despite a nine-to-one strike ballot vote in favour of action, RMT members have been prevented from legally striking on the basis of the Labour government's industrial relations legislation, intended to simplify the requirements for a legal strike.
The walkout by Aslef, which represents most tube drivers, is nevertheless likely to lead to chaos in what is planned to be the first of a series of strikes.
