Striking Tube workers demand 75 percent discount on all personal rail travel
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Tube drivers that brought London to a standstill today are demanding a 75 per cent discount on all their rail travel - including leisure trips.
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Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) voted overwhelmingly for strike action after nine months of negotiations failed to bring about a resolution to a dispute over pay and working hours.
It has now emerged that striking Transport for London (TfL) workers want a 75% discount on all their rail travel among their other demands.
The RMT strikers are demanding taxpayer-subsidised leisure travel on mainline trains outside London.
All TfL employees - as well as one family member or partner each - already receive free travel across the network, including on buses, trains, the Underground, the DLR, the Overground, the Elizabeth Line and trams.
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Workers also receive a 75% reimbursement on National Rail commuting costs if they live outside London.
Striking staff including drivers, signallers and maintenance workers have launched a series of strikes despite being offered a 3.4 per cent pay rise.
Tube drivers and other London Underground staff who are members of the RMT union have said they should work four day weeks, which TfL claims is unworkable.
The strike is set to continue all week, with few or no services running on the Tube between Monday and Thursday.