Tube Strike is on

After 10 hours of talks, the 48 hour London Underground strike will be going ahead from 7pm tonight - 9th June. Although it will end on 18:58 on Thursday 11 June, it's expected that services won't really get back to normal until Friday morning.


Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said "The RMT's leadership has shown yet again that no matter how far an offer is made, they would rather strike than talk.

"Their attitude is a slap in the face to all hard-working Londoners and businesses struggling through a deep recession."

He continued: "the impact on Tube services is likely to be significant..... A massive effort is being made including boosting bus and river services, providing escorted commuter cycle rides and more central London cycle parking, and distributing thousands of walking maps at central London rail and Tube stations.

"Pay as you go will also be accepted on all National Rail services within Greater London and there will be marshalled taxi sharing facilities at six major rail stations."

London Overground and Docklands Light Railway services will be operating as normal. But the congestion charge will still remain in operation. The mayor's approach to all this is to tell people to get on their bikes. There will be led cycle rides with TfL volunteers providing maps, guidance and refreshments for five escorted rides. Full details are on a new website "Bike the Strike".

On the river boats, existing services will be boosted from a capacity of 1,500 to 8,000 an hour and will include an additional free shuttle service from London Bridge to Tower Bridge.

TfL made a new four year pay deal of 1.5% this year and then the inflation rate plus 0.5%; or a two-year deal of 1% now and inflation plus 0.5% in year two. However this wasn't good enough for the RMT who want a 5% pay rise and a promise of no redundancies.

RMT leader Bob Crow said "Not only could the management side not reach an agreement on the kind of deal needed to end this dispute, they also found it difficult to stick to existing agreements on redundancies.

"The strike will now go ahead and we expect it to be solidly supported."

Whether it is solidly supported remains to seen, but we can definitely expect massive disruption to the service. Keep an eye on the TfL's website before you travel and good luck with your journey over the next three days.