London Tube strike: Everything you need to know about the industrial action

Unless last-minute deals succeed, this week's strike looks set to be the most disruptive in over a decade

Unless last-minute talks and offers resolve the dispute, this week's Tube strike looks set to be the most disruptive since 2002, when the entire underground network was shut down by industrial action.

The strike will cover the bulk of the Tube network and parts of the First Great Western network, and will make commuting difficult for millions of Londoners later this week.

Why are the workers striking?

On the tube, much of the dispute is over the introduction of the Night Tube, which will offer a round-the-clock service on Fridays and Saturdays from 12 September.

Union members say that Underground staff are being offered a 0.75 per cent pay increase this year, and they claim that this is not enough to compensate for the increase in night shifts that the Night Tube will bring.

The unions also claim that Underground bosses plan to impose new staff rotas for the Night Tube without agreement from workers.

On First Great Western, union members are striking over the introduction of a new fleet of Hitachi Inter-City trains, that they claim will threaten jobs, especially those of maintenance staff and buffet car workers.

Tube workers have gone on strike a number of times in recent years, but this week's strike is the most extensive and looks to be the most disruptive in over a decade

How long will the strike last for?

Tube workers are set to strike for 24 hours, starting from 18:30 on Wednesday 8 July. This will affect the morning and evening commutes of millions of people this week.

First Great Western workers who are members of the RMT will strike for 48 hours, starting at the same time.

What routes will be affected?

There will be no Tube service at all on the underground network for the duration of the strike, apart from on Docklands Light Railway, London Overground and TfL rail lines, where staff are not striking.

However, it is expected that trains on these three lines will be much busier than usual.

First Great Western claim that their services will be "significantly affected", especially from Thursday until the start of service on Saturday.

Trains on Docklands Light Railway, Overground and TfL Rail lines will keep running during the strike, but will be much busier than usual

Who is going on strike?

The planned strike involves workers from four large trade unions - the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), train drivers' union Aslef, transport union the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite.

These unions represent many tube workers, but also staff members from First Great Western Trains, which provides commuter services from suburban areas of London, as well as South Wales and South West England.

What efforts have been made to resolve it?

Today, in a bid to call off the strike, which would be the most disruptive in years, London Underground made a final pay deal, which offers a two per cent pay rise this year, as well as an extra £2,000 for drivers and £500 for other staff on the weekend 24-hour service.

They have been given until 18:30 tonight to respond to the offer, so that preparations can begin to run tube services if the strike is called off.

Negotiations and discussions were held between unions and First Great Western, but they broke down without a deal - meaning this strike still looks set to go ahead.

If the Tube pay deal is not accepted, expect overcrowded buses, busy roads and a chronic shortage of Boris Bikes in London later this week.