London tube strike – live: Travel chaos continues following yesterday’s TfL walkout
Majority of Tube lines are experiencing delays
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The travel chaos continues in the capital today following yesterday’s 24-hour strike by Tube staff.
Beginning at one minute past midnight on 3 March and continuing until one minute to midnight last night, the walkout by RMT union members affected all London Underground lines.
Although the strike is officially over, many Tube lines are still being affected this morning, with the majority reporting delays.
The Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines are all experiencing “severe delays”, while the Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines report “minor delays”.
The Central and Victoria lines are operating a good service.
A previous network-wide strike took place on Tuesday, 1 March, with the fallout continuing into Wednesday as services were disrupted for much of the morning.
Transport for London (TfL) bosses warned that the entire network would be impacted the mornings after strike days and advised Londoners to travel later in the day.
Follow below for the latest updates:
Rail disruption outside Liverpool Street
While the London Underground struggles back to life after Tuesday’s strike by members of the RMT union, commuters to the capital face disruption on National Rail services.
A points failure near Bethnal Green, just outside the key station of London Liverpool Street, is causing delays and cancellations until 10am.
On the other side of the capital, the South Western Railway line between Twickenham and Barnes is blocked. Trains are being diverted via Hounslow, with cancellations and delays of up to an hour.
Disruption is expected until 12 noon.
What has Sadiq Khan said about the Tube strikes?
The striking union, RMT, has blamed this week’s strike action on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, with general secretary Mick Lynch saying: ““Sadiq Khan should be standing up to Tory ministers who want to needlessly attack jobs, pensions and conditions of key transport workers. It is this political failure that has left tube workers with no choice but to strike this week.”
But the Mayor hit back at these claims, saying that the union is “letting the government off the hook” and “punishing Londoners” by “pointing the finger at” him.
Mr Khan said in a statement: “Had I declined support from the government, had I not acceded to the conditions attached by the government, TfL would have gone bankrupt. TfL going bankrupt means every single person employed by TfL loses their job, and that includes not just RMT workers but workers from other unions and indeed those workers who are not a member of any union. Additionally, that would have caused many challenges for businesses across our city that employ millions of Londoners.
“It’s in nobody’s interest for TfL to go bankrupt, and what I’d say to RMT is, rather than going on what is at best a premature strike, let’s sit down to resolve differences because the strike today, and the strike on Thursday, is bad for TfL, it’s bad for Londoners, it’s bad for businesses who have really struggled after the last two years in the pandemic.
“It’s really important for us to realise that these are government conditions. The RMT pointing the finger at me or at the [TfL] commissioner, is A) letting the government off the hook, and B) punishing Londoners and punishing their members and punishing TfL. How is that good for the RMT?”
Central, Victoria, Bakerloo and Northern Lines open - with some small print
TfL is currently advising that the Central, Victoria, Bakerloo and Northern Lines are open - but the Bakerloo Line is experiencing minor delays and some Northern Line stations are reportedly still closed.
TfL Rail and the DLR are also operating a good service.
Clapham South and Chalk Farm are two of the stations commuters found closed at the beginning of the day.
The Circle Line is suspended, and the District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Piccadilly and Jubilee Line all have severe delays.
The London Overground is also running a reduced service.
Commuters confused by continuing chaos
Commuters have shared their confusion after finding no Tube services running this morning.
“Tube strike was yesterday, why is nothing back open and running today?” tweeted one Londoner.
Readers have asked why, if Tube workers are no longer striking, services are still impacted today.
The Independent understands that early trains are operated by night shift workers, who carry out duties at depots before preparing the first public services. They normally sign on before midnight – but, as this was still within the RMT strike instruction, many did not report for work.
The morning shift can pick up, but not until halfway through what would normally be the morning rush hour.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s travel liveblog. We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates on the fall-out from yesterday’s Tube strike.
London calling
Today’s travel podcast was recorded aboard one of the few Underground trains running in London: a shuttle service between High Street Kensington and Wimbledon.
While it is not exactly a journey of Trans-Canadian proportions, it was the best that I could find on a strike day.
I was surprised to find so few people aboard – perhaps 50 at most – and by the closure of Earl’s Court, normally one of the busiest hubs on the Underground network.
Another shuttle is expected to run on the same route on Thursday, the day of the next strike.
Why are early Tube services disrupted tomorrow?
Transport for London (TfL) is warning Tube users: “Disruption will continue tomorrow morning, Wednesday 2 March, with no Tube service until at least 7.30am and a severely disrupted service after this.
“Customers are advised to avoid travelling in the early morning and aim to make journeys from mid-morning.”
Readers have asked why, if Tube workers are no longer striking, services will not be restored from the first trains.
The Independent understands that early trains are operated by night shift workers, who carry out duties at depots before preparing the first public services. They normally sign on before midnight – but, as this is still within the RMT strike instruction, many will not report for work.
The morning shift can pick up, but not until halfway through what would normally be the morning rush hour.
TfL warns: “Further disruption is expected all day on Thursday 3 March, when customers are advised to work from home if they can, and into the morning of Friday 4 March, when customers should avoid early morning journeys.”
A few services, such as a shuttle between Wimbledon and High Street Kensington on the District Line, will continue to operate.
Winning at Wimbledon: a rush-hour train with just 50 people aboard
Some Underground trains are running. I set off to catch one. High Street Kensington station is open, but a series of whiteboards contain handwritten warnings about the journey limitations brought about by the Tube strike.
“There are NO trains to Edgware Road,” one notice explains. “We are only operating a shuttle service to Wimbledon and Ealing Broadway”.
The latter link is an improvement on the morning’s service, offering connections to a string of west London stations including Hammersmith.
On board the 4.02pm departure for Wimbledon, I counted no more than 50 people in the entire length of the train – compared with many hundreds who would normally be aboard.
The uncertainties of travel at a time of industrial action were made clear at West Brompton, when the driver announced that the next station – Fulham Broadway – might be closed by the time we arrived.
As it turned out, the station celebrated by Ian Dury in the song What a Waste was still open for business.
The full journey to Wimbledon was a brisk 20 minutes. I expected to arrive at a station busy with commuters who were using South Western Railway and tram services to evade the Tube closure. In fact, there were just a handful of commuters – suggesting many had heeded TfL’s warning to stay at home.
Thursday’s Tube strike set to go ahead
The second 24-hour Tube strike, scheduled to begin at 12.01am on Thursday, looks set to go ahead.
RMT's John Leach confirmed to BBC London that there have been no negotiations today.
The union's general secretary said: “What there has been today is an absolute display of complete and total solidarity and determination by London Underground staff and members of the RMT who will not take this attack on their pensions, jobs and terms and conditions lying down.
“The Mayor’s announcements [today] have said nothing about addressing the issues in my opinion so we will continue.”
Tube strikes “lose-lose situation”, says London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Richard Burge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has spoken out about the Tube strikes, calling them “disruptive and frustrating”.
“Tube strikes are a lose-lose situation and have a knock-on effect, discouraging people from coming to London for work or leisure which reduces footfall and in turn means that London businesses suffer,” Burge told the BBC.
“It is shameful that the RMT continue to consider strikes as a legitimate weapon to force a desired resolution.”
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