RMT union's industrial action due to begin at 9.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday
LATEST: TUBE STRIKE SUSPENDED BY RMT
Transport for London says London Undergound plans to run as many services as possible during RMT strike action on Bank Holiday Monday but warns there will be disruption.
Customers are urged to check before they travel at tfl.gov.uk.
Among the measures planned by TfL are extra bus and river services, and licensed and trained TfL Ambassadors will help to keep Tube stations open and provide travel information and advice to customers.
Transport for London today set out a range of measures to help keep London moving and open for business next week, should a second set of strikes threatened by the leadership of the RMT union on London Underground go ahead.
The RMT strike action is currently due to affect services from around 9.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May and throughout the whole of Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 May, with services not returning to normal until the morning of Friday 9 May.
TfL says during this week’s strike action LU managed to run 50% of Tube services across the 48-hour action and carried up to 57% of the usual number of passengers, far higher than during the last strike in February.
Up to 80% of stations were open and around 90% of Oyster cards that would usually be seen on the TfL network were seen – showing that Londoners continued to get around the city despite the disruption. The highest number of buses ever deployed in London’s history were also in action carrying over a million extra passengers and the Barclays Cycle Hire saw its busiest day ever with over 49,000 trips on Wednesday.
TfL says these strikes have been called by the leadership of the RMT union over plans to modernise the Tube. Under these plans, at the busiest stations there will be nearly a third more staff visible and available to provide, on a permanent basis, the face-to-face customer service offered during the London 2012 Games. Visitors to London and people with disabilities will be better looked after than ever before.
It claims the modernisation will see savings of £50 million a year which will be reinvested in more frequent and reliable train services and will help keep fares down and adds that LU has made five commitments to customers:
· All stations will remain staffed and controlled at all times, with more staff visible and available to help customers and keep them safe and secure
· A new 24-hour service on core parts of the Tube network at weekends from 2015
· More frequent and reliable train services with better, more accessible stations
· Simpler ticketing, including contactless bank card payment with daily and weekly fares capping
· The best possible value by running our services as efficiently as possible while improving customer service
From day one, LU has also guaranteed that modernisation will be taken forward with no compulsory redundancies, a job for everyone who wants to continue working at LU and no member of staff sees their pay cut as a result of the changes proposed.
The RMT union, however says the strikes are necessary to prevent ticket office closures which they believe compromise safety.
Talks between LU and the unions, three of which are not carrying out strike action, will take place at ACAS today. LU will be urging the RMT leadership to call off next week’s action. However, at present, the RMT strike is still on and customers are asked to plan ahead.
Travel advice to customers during the RMT strike action:
Should the strike action go ahead, LU will keep as many stations open and run as many trains as possible. Services will be affected from 21:30hrs on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May so customers are asked to try and complete journeys as early as possible that evening. If your Oyster card needs topping up, it may help to do this in advance of the industrial action starting.
There will be disruption to journeys on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, when Tube services will start later and finish earlier than normal – trains will run from around 7am to 11pm. However, customers are advised that the last services from central London may depart significantly earlier than this, at around 9.30pm.
Although it is not possible to say exactly what services we will be able to run, the line-by-line information below will help customers to plan journeys in advance.
However, customers are advised that the situation may change throughout the day. Buses and other modes of transport may also be very busy. Those public transport workers who are on duty during the strike will be doing their very best to keep London moving and open for business. TfL asked customers for their patience during what may be difficult journeys.
TfL Ambassadors and volunteers will also be on hand to provide customers with travel information and advice on the ground. TfL urges all customers to plan ahead and to check before they travel at tfl.gov.uk and by following @TfLTravelAlerts, @TfLTrafficNews and @TfLBusAlerts on Twitter.
For further information call the Travel Information Service on 0343 222 1234 or follow TfL Travel Alerts on Twitter
May 5, 2014
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