More Tube misery for Londoners today as strikes cause travel havoc

2 March 2022, 17:58 | Updated: 2 March 2022, 23:51

More Tube chaos is expected due to strikes on Thursday. Picture: Alamy

By Will Taylor

Londoners are to be hit with more Tube misery today as strikes resume.

Transport for London [TfL] urged people to work from home if possible ahead of the planned action on Thursday, after the RMT Union wreaked havoc on the capital's transport infrastructure on Tuesday.

And a fresh bout looks set to do the same on today, with Transport for London [TfL] urging people not to make trips if they can avoid it, or find alternatives to the Underground.

Londoners have also been warned to complete all journeys before 6.30pm.

Andy Lord, TfL's Chief Operating Officer, said: "I would ask anyone who needs to use the Tube on Thursday 3 March to check before they make their journey, consider whether they are able to work from home and use alternative modes of transport where possible.

"It's highly unlikely there will be an Underground service running during the strike action and, if any service is provided, it will not continue into the evening.

"Services will also be severely impacted until mid-morning on Friday 4 March because of a number of factors including the placement of drivers and trains following a day without service.

"I apologise to customers for this and understand they will be frustrated by this strike action, but urge them not to take it out on those who are trying to help."

TfL said there is a high chance services will not resume until 8am on Friday.

Tuesday was rife with images and video of commuters packing onto London's buses in a bid to get to work, with journeys taking hours in some circumstances.

Central to disputes between the RMT union and TfL is the bid to secure Government funding for the Tube, which has been hit by a collapse in passenger numbers during the Covid pandemic.

There has also been a running battle over the return of the Night Tube.

The RMT attacked the "continuing refusal to give assurances on jobs, pensions and working conditions".

General secretary Mick Lynch said: "If Sadiq Khan spent as much time putting pressure on ministers for a long-term TfL funding deal, instead of accepting their cuts agenda and attacking our members, there would be no need for a strike.

"However, as it stands, tube staff face a raid on their pensions and at least 600 job cuts, if the government get their way. It is tube workers being told to take the hit for the political failures of City Hall and the DfT [the Department for Transport] which is the issue at the heart of the dispute."

Mr Lord went on: "We haven't proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has lost or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out, so this action is completely unnecessary.

"We know our customers deserve better than this continued disruption and that is why we're urging the RMT to talk to us so we can find a resolution to this dispute which has already damaged London's recovery from the pandemic.” "

London's mayor Sadiq Khan told LBC this week: "The strike today and the strike on Thursday causes massive disruption to our city. TfL suffers, Londoners suffer, people who have got appointments at hospital suffer.

"Businesses who have had a horrific two years suffer. I'm not sure what the purpose of the strike today and the strike on Thursday is.

"I'd encourage the RMT to get back around the table with TfL to resolve these differences."