Underground workers’ strike has crippled London for the second time this week.
Gatekeepers News reports that the strike follows a similar walkout on Tuesday by about 10,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) over jobs and pensions dispute.
Transport for London (TfL) said people should expect all-tube services across the capital to be suspended on Thursday, and advised passengers to work from home or walk or cycle where possible or plan for crowding and delay if using other trains or buses for essential journeys.
Many bus services were overcrowded during rush hour, leaving people unable to board and stranded. Large queues for buses and taxis were reported outside mainline rail stations in central London as demand outstripped supply.
Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing on how to introduce driverless trains on the Underground as part of plans by ministers to break the power of the militant RMT union.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has made driverless technology a condition of talks on a bailout for TfL, which wants a long-term settlement to shore up finances ravaged by the pandemic.
The RMT on Wednesday threatened more strikes and said there could be ‘a massive shutdown over the summer’ if TfL tries to change the terms of staff pensions.
Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour Mayor, has responsibility for TfL, but a Government source said Shapps was determined to begin the shift to driverless technology.
“Industrial action or no industrial action, there is a strategic case for moving forward on driverless trains,’ the source said.
“They are already a reality – the London Docklands Light Railway has been automated since its birth 35 years ago – but there is a deep-seated cultural resistance to the concept at TfL.
“It cannot be right that commuters are held to ransom and the economy of London harmed, merely at the whim of union bosses.”
The Transport Secretary has now warned Mr Khan he must begin ‘scoping work’ on driverless trains if he wants more bailouts.
