London Tube strike – latest: Victoria and Jubilee among lines disrupted during Friday rush hour
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Your support makes all the difference.Five Tube lines will be severely affected this morning by strike action taken by London Underground (LU) workers.
Transport for London (TfL) said the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines will be severely disrupted for 24 hours from 4.30am on Friday.
Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) members are also planning to strike on six other nights: this Saturday (27 November), and on Friday 3 December, Saturday 4, Friday 10, Saturday 11, and Friday 17.
As the strikes cross into Friday evening rush hour, only 58 per cent of the regularly scheduled service is running, Andy Lord, managing director of London Underground confirmed.
The Mayor of London said the strike action came at the “worst possible time” as shoppers attempted to attend Black Friday sales and Londoners anticipated the return of the Night Tube. Sadiq Khan urged RMT to return to negotiations after accusing the union of refusing to meet TfL for crunch talks yesterday.
The RMT has said that LU has abolished 200 Tube driver positions and has imposed “unacceptable and intolerable” new rotas on existing drivers to cover Night Tube services. The union says this would “wreck the work-life balance” of members.
Thameslink services cancelled due to staff shortages
Commuters are also being hit by cancellations on the Thameslink network between Sutton and St Albans via central London – a line which runs through south London stations including Elephant and Castle, Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill.
The Thameslink Twitter account said the cancellations and delays on Friday evening were due to “unavailability of train crew”.
Queue for taxis in central London
BBC London’s transport correspondent, Tom Edwards, reports that there are long queues for taxis in central London as people find alternatives to the Tube.
But cycling still remains the fastest way to get around the city, regardless of striking Tube drivers.
Tube strike in pictures
Tube strike to run until 4.29am on Saturday
The current Tube strike is set to last until 4.29am tomorrow, affecting the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines.
The Tube will run a normal service on Saturday until 8.30pm, when a strike on the Central and Victoria lines will run until 4.29am on Sunday.
Night tube will relaunch on Saturday, says TfL
The night Tube is to relaunch on Saturday evening despite today’s strikes, Nick Dent, Transport for London’s director of customer relations, told BBC London.
“We’re confident we’ll be running a night Tube service on the Victoria and Central lines,” he said.
“It’s a very important milestone for London.”
There are currently severe delays on the Bakerloo line and minor delays on the London Overground.
The Central, Jubilee, Northern and Victoria lines continue to run an altered service due to the strikes.
Click here for more information on the current service updates.
We are pausing our live updates for the night. We will be back first thing with more live updates.
Minor delays affecting Central and Circle
Transport for London has updated its schedule, showing minor delays due to train cancellations currently affecting Central and Circle lines.
No service between Bank/Tower Gateway and Poplar/West India Quay on Saturday and Sunday
Transport for London, in its updated schedule, has said the DLR line will face part closures. There will be no service between Bank/Tower Gateway and Poplar/West India Quay on Saturday (27 November) and Sunday (28 November).
Meanwhile, replacement buses will operate between Bank and Canary Wharf, calling at Tower Gateway, Shadwell, Limehouse and Westferry.
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