Tube strike: London Underground action disrupts commuters

[Philipnet]

Tube passengers were facing further rush hour delays following a day of strike action over planned job cuts and ticket office closures.

The 48-hour action by the RMT and TSSA unions means there is a limited Tube service until Friday morning.

Mike Brown, of Transport for London (TfL), said they needed to "get round the table" with the unions.

RMT leader Bob Crow said the union had been in talks for two weeks and it was "ready and waiting for further talks".


Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26043372

To stop Duncan from hijacking another thread and because the UK doesn't exist past Nottingham

[duncan]

70% of stations were open yesterday due to non union station staff, travel ambassadors and office staff turning up and helping out. I have never been in favour of strike action before, but this one I support. I was not balloted this time as I am not part of stations, so I cannot go out on strike and even if I did, it wouldn't change anything.

Yes, the tube needs modernising and technology has indeed moved on, but should staff have to suffer a 6 grand pay cut?

Closing all the ticket offices will take a year and will not start until early 2015 once contactless payment has been introduced across the tube network. As 90% of my work stems from the ticket offices, it will eventually have a knock on effect on my job and I may well find myself being cut in 2016.

[Mike Saville]

Well, it'll help keep those of us who don't have access to contactless technology off the system.

I understand the need for progress, I really do. But there's a huge difference between technology that's purpose is to make life easier for the masses but has the unfortunate side effect of people losing their jobs, and technology that is designed for the sole purpose of reducing costs by making people redundant. Cash free ticketing alas falls into the latter bracket.

[duncan]

It does especially as if you have a problem and you have used contactless payment, it's down to your bank to sort it and not TFL, thus directing even more customers away from using TFL Oyster advisors.

Eventually, there will be no need for train drivers either as once each line's stock of trains reach their use by date, the next generation will be driverless.

[Nyder]

Driverless trains is a scary prospect, and not something I'd welcome.

[Perry Vale]

I support the strike, even though I had a 2 1/4 hour journey in yesterday morning. Thanks, Duncan, for your input, interesting reading. I wouldn't trust a word that comes out of Bullingdon Boris's mouth, and am amazed anyone really would.

I love how we're always told that the Royal Family bring in so much money to the economy from tourism, yet apparently we can't afford to keep any ticket offices open for them when they arrive in London. A disgrace, if you ask me.

[duncan]

Some stations don't need a ticket office to be honest, but what gets to me is that Boris campaigned for Mayor by making several promises. One of which was NOT to close ticket offices. Now he has gone back on that and jokes that he made the promise before the invention of the i-phone!

As I said in another thread, LU are careful with what they say to the public. When they say, anyone who wants a job can stay providing the are willing to be flexible actually means you can stay if you take a 6 grand pay cut. They also claim that 86% of Londoners support TFL in their plans but dont tell you that around 300 people were surveyed. That number can hardly be "Londoners" considering how many millions of journeys are made each day.

Today, you will probably hear that 86% of Oyster card users managed to make a journey over the strike. But that figure will include Oyster card users that never use the tube anyway.

To be honest, with the amount of stations that were open during the strike, all this has achieved is to highlight that a tube service can run with less staff and no ticket offices.

And it's likely it will all happen again next week.

[duncan]

Driverless trains is a scary prospect, and not something I'd welcome.

It works very well on the DLR but they don't have the number of passengers the Tube does.

[Philipnet]

I'm all for modernising and keep up with the times, but with a large employer any change is bound to affect the numbers of staff and the expected wage for the job they do.

I can see London Underground being stuck between a rock and a hard place in this scenario.

[Perry Vale]

London Tube Strike's £200Million Cost 'Plucked Out of Thin Air'

The estimated £50million daily cost of London's Tube strikes turns out to be based on a 2007 survey of just 315 businesses.

Since Tuesday night, London's Tube workers have been on strike and the media has repeated big claims regarding impact of the industrial action on the capital's economy. The BBC, Financial Times and the Telegraph quote £50m per day. London's Evening Standard repeats a claim by "business leaders" that the action will cost £200million over the planned four days.

But where do these numbers come from? Alf Crossman, an industrial relations expert at the University of Surrey, said, "In such cases, more often than not, people pluck figures out of thin air."

He found that the source of the £50million figure is a survey conducted in 2007 by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), a business lobby group. For the survey, conducted in partnership with pollsters ComRes, the LCCI asked 315 of its members in "all sectors from across the capital" about the likely impact of the strikes on their business. (Although the total number of members from 2007 was not shared by LCCI, they now have more than 2,500 members.)

[duncan]

Talks at ACAS continue today but I don't hold much hope of any settlement.

LUL are determined to shut all ticket offices and have spent a lot of time and money on this project and won't just let it go.

[Rob McCow]

It works very well on the DLR but they don't have the number of passengers the Tube does.

I've not been on the DLR often, but every time I have there have been two members of staff on each train. Couldn't say whether this was good or bad!

[Stuart Wallis]

As long as there's one of them who knows first aid, and they both know how to deal with the passengers during a breakdown, it's a good thing surely?

[duncan]

There's normally just one and he's known as the Train Captain. he's there to check tickets, Oysters and passes, close the doors so the train departs and even drive it manually if he needs to.

Basically, apart from needing the doors closed by the train captain, the DLR trains operate themselves. While nowhere near the capacity the tube has, 99.2% of their trains ran on time in December!

[Philipnet]

One union has suspended its 48-hour Tube strike action after reaching a deal with London Underground (LU) over ticket office closures.

TSSA members will now no longer take the industrial action, which was due to start at 21:00 GMT

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26130165

The RMT are still deciding on the matter, it seems.

[duncan]

Management here haven't said anything and are still planning for all out strike action. I wait to see what happens then.

[duncan]

We have just had an internal bulletin emailed to us all telling us that both unions have now suspended strike action. They go on to say that they are now looking at doing a "station by station review, of LU’s proposals. This could result in some ticket offices remaining open".

[Philipnet]

Thanks Duncan.
Looks like you beat the BBC updating their website with this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26130165

What do you think about the "station by station review, of LU’s proposals. This could result in some ticket offices remaining open" ?

[Stuart Wallis]

There's normally just one and he's known as the Train Captain. he's there to check tickets, Oysters and passes, close the doors so the train departs and even drive it manually if he needs to.

Basically, apart from needing the doors closed by the train captain, the DLR trains operate themselves. While nowhere near the capacity the tube has, 99.2% of their trains ran on time in December!

Looking at it from the unions' POV, this is just the ammo LU need to take people out of the control rooms as well if DLR trains are that competent. Personally I'd like to have someone on the train in some capacity in case of emergencies.

I would also like ticket offices kept open, if only for the personal reason that it's through them and the Oysters that I get to claim certain travel expenses when i have to go into Epping or Harlow sometimes. And someone's got to tell you when there's major problems on the network.

[duncan]

What do you think about the "station by station review, of LU’s proposals. This could result in some ticket offices remaining open" ?

I think it's a good thing. Stations like Kings Cross, Victoria, Liverpool Street and even some further outlying stations like Stratford and Harrow on the hill could never cope without ticket offices staying open.

[Philipnet]

A 48-hour Tube strike is due to start later when London Underground workers strike in a row over plans to close ticket offices.
Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members will walk out at 21:00 BST, returning at 20:59 on Wednesday.
It is thought disruption could begin before the official walk-out and continue until Thursday morning.
RMT and London Underground (LU) are in talks over the plans, which will result in 960 jobs being axed.
'Decimate safety'The union and LU have met more than 40 times through the conciliatory service Acas since the last 48-hour strike in February.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, where services can be operated, trains will run from 07:00 GMT or as soon as possible after that.
Services are expected to conclude at about 23:00 GMT, with no service beyond that, but the last services from central London may depart much earlier, at about 21:30 GMT.
Mick Cash, the RMT's acting general secretary, said: "This dispute is solely about cash-led cuts to jobs and services that would decimate Tube safety."
Mr Cash said the union was waiting on the delivery of a promise from LU to provide it with a station-by-station review of the cuts and their impact on staff, passengers and safety.
But LU said concessions had already been made, including a promise that a supervisor would work out of every station, rather than one worker overseeing up to five stations.


Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27181215

I really like the guys' name.
Mick Cash/Mr Cash.

[Stuart Wallis]

Surely that sign means the Picadilly Line's been stolen?

[Rob McCow]

I'll be taking part in this grand London Tradition tomorrow. Do I need to bring anything, like a fork or a sleeping bag? I'm planning to cycle from Waterloo to Bond Street again... we'll see if I survive.

[duncan]

I'll be walking from Charing Cross to South Kensington

[duncan]

I did it and it took me just over 45 mins, taking in Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, The Ritz, Hyde Park, and Harrods. It was a nice walk and one I might start doing more often.