Strikes by London Underground workers in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions will cause travel misery for millions of passengers in the capital this week.
Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) walked out on Sunday following a breakdown in talks with Transport for London (TfL).
The union has battled back pleas to call off the industrial action involving 10,000 TfL staff, in an attempt to secure a 32-hour working week and a 75 per cent discount on nationwide ticket fares.
There will be almost no Tube services running until Friday, with other modes of transport in the city — such as trains, buses and trams — facing severe disruption, or are likely to be congested.
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which connects the City and Canary Wharf financial districts, will also not run on Tuesday or Thursday due to a separate dispute.
Travellers should use the Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express to reach Heathrow Airport, while people aiming to fly from London City Airport are advised to ask to utilise buses or taxis.
Planned engineering works on the London Overground could add to delays. Moreover, some stations may have limited access if staff there choose to strike.
TfL has urged the RMT to leave the picket line after making an improved pay offer of 3.4 per cent.
Claire Mann, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “Our pay deal is in line with other offers accepted by the RMT across the rail industry, so it is disappointing the RMT is planning to disrupt Londoners without giving their members a say on the offer.
“We remain open for discussions about any part of our offer, and we are committed to making sure our colleagues are treated fairly.”
But union barons have accused rail chiefs of failing to “engage seriously” with its demands on wages and fatigue management.
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the RMT, said: “Our members are doing a fantastic job to keep our capital moving and work strenuous shift patterns to make sure Londoners get to their destinations around the clock.
“Fatigue and extreme shift rotations are serious issues impacting on our members’ health and wellbeing — all of which have not been adequately addressed for years.”
Hospitality bosses urged the RMT to cancel the strikes as they warn that the week-long walkouts will inflict a further blow to the sector and damage the wider economy.
One estimate by the Centre for Economics and Business Research think-tank puts the potential economic impact of the strikes at £230 million, bringing further disruption to hospitality.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Last year Keir Starmer put up taxes on struggling businesses, but gave inflation-busting pay rises to unions, promising to end strikes.
“A year later doctors are voting to strike for the second time this summer and London tube drivers walking out, piling more misery on us.”
The strikes have spelled trouble for tourists too, who are visiting London at the tail end of the summer high season.
At a bus stop outside Leicester Square station, Florian, 45, said he was worried about fitting in a busy day of sightseeing.
“We are trying to take the bus and we’re not sure if we’ll get there on time at all,” he told The Standard.
French tourists Ilona and Valentin, 26, are in the city for the first time and have enjoyed seeing Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.
“It’s not very easy the first time,” admits Ilona. “We knew there would be strikes so we took the bus everywhere.”
The walkouts — which began on Friday with depot managers — began to affect the Tube on Sunday.
There was no service across the Bakerloo and Circle lines, and a limited number of trains were running on the Metropolitan, Piccadilly and Central lines.
In Oxford Street, rows of shops had their shutters down and pavements that would normally be packed with shoppers were deserted.
Those working on trains and stations will strike on Monday and Wednesday, and signallers and service controllers on Tuesday and Thursday, bringing the network to a halt until 8am on Friday.
Last year’s last planned Tube strike was suspended after London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan promised £30 million for pay rises.
The last time the entire network shut down due to strikes was in March 2023.
Mick Lynch, the RMT's general secretary, said at the time: "Our members will never accept job losses, attacks on their pensions or changes to working conditions in order to pay for a funding cut which is the government's political decision."
