Tube strikes: London Underground to grind to a halt in hours - all lines affected

Speaking ahead of today's strike action London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged RMT bosses to return to the negotiations.

He said on BBC London Radio: “RMT and TfL need to get round the table and sort their differences.

“Another strike is planned on Thursday and there is still time for RMT to call that off. The workers on strike lose a day’s salary, TfL loses revenue, businesses are losing their customers, people who have hospital appointments can’t get to them. It is a massive inconvenience."

Despite calls to stop the strike action, it is now underway.

Barts NHS Health Trust, one of London's largest, has said there will be some flexibility during the strike action.

In guidance issued to its patients the trust urged those attending appointments at its five hospitals to check their travel routes and be aware of delays.

Barts said it would be “flexible with appointment timings” for those delayed, however there may be a wait upon arrival.

TfL use was only down by 10 per cent during Tuesday's strike according to Data.

Commenting on the impact of Tuesday’s strike, a Transport for London spokesperson said: “We are grateful to our customers for their patience while they made their journeys in spite of the disruption on our network caused by the RMT’s industrial action.

“Oyster and contactless card taps were only down by around 10 per cent across the whole day, showing that Londoners and visitors to the city were still able to travel despite the strike action.

“We managed to run services on most lines, with the Jubilee line in particular running almost 90 per cent of normally scheduled kilometres.

“We also saw that over 60 per cent of drivers came to work across the day, helping millions of people travelling across the city get around as easily as possible.

“We continue to urge the RMT to work with us to resolve their questions on the proposed four-day week and to suspend any future action while that work is completed.”

The strike action on the underground has begun.

Here is a reminder of what lines are affected:

The Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground, and tram services will be running as normal, however are likely to be very busy.

Minor delays are currently affecting the DLR between Stratford and Canary Wharf while TfL fix a track fault at Pudding Mill Lane.

Minor delays are currently affecting the Piccadilly Line between Acton Town and King's Cross St. Pancras eastbound only while TfL remove an obstruction from the track at Barons Court.

Meanwhile, Transport for London has warned passengers to double check their trips before they travel if the strikes go ahead. TfL spokespeople warned that Tube services will be disrupted before, during, and after the strikes.

The industrial action is in response to issues including a new four-day week which the union has said its members do not agree with. The drivers’ union Aslef, however, has accepted the new arrangements.

Here is a reminder of the tube lines with no service tomorrow

Circle line

Piccadilly line

Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate

Central line between White City and Liverpool Street

The dispute is centred on TfL's wish to introduce a voluntary four-day week for drivers.

Claire Mann, Transport for London’s (TfL) chief operating officer, said: “We still believe that the points they have raised can be worked out in time, through more detailed discussions and we are continuing to talk to the union’s representatives to find a way to avoid disruption to London.”

Minor delays are currently affecting the Central Line due to train cancellations.

A small number of TfL services will be running tomorrow, these are:

Elizabeth line

DLR

London Overground

Buses

Trams

These services are likely to be busy.

TfL is urging passengers to complete their journeys before 9pm tomorrow.

There will be a limited service before 6.30am tomorrow morning.

TfL drivers and the union representing them have expressed concerns about a planned, voluntary, four-day working week.

A union source said Tube drivers had “very real” concerns about spending longer hours in the driver cab, becoming more fatigued, losing flexibility around their shifts and the impact that could have on a role where safety has to come first.

No, not all tube drivers are taking part in the strike.

Tube drivers who are members of the Aslef union have accepted the four day working week proposals which would see drivers working one day less but for longer per day.

Aslef will continue to work on RMT strike days.

The changes proposed by TfL are voluntary.

London Underground services have returned to normal, though the disruption won't stay away for long.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) walked out on Tuesday and will strike again on Thursday in a dispute over a four-day week.

The union says it expects fresh talks to be held next week in a bid to resolve the row.

TfL is proposing a four four day working week which would see drivers working one day less but for long per day.

But why are they proposing this?

Claire Mann, TfL's chief operating officer, said the "completely voluntary" four-day week had been designed to "improve work-life balance".

"Any of our Tube drivers who do not wish to take up the new proposed way of working and associated changes to working arrangements can remain on a five-day working pattern," she said.

"A significant number of drivers have indicated that they want us to progress plans for the pilot of this new working pattern on the Bakerloo line, bringing benefits both for our colleagues and our customers."

Minor delays are currently affecting Elizabeth Line services between Shenfield and Whitechapel following an earlier fallen tree on the tracks at Gidea Park.

The rest of the line is operating a good service.

Strikes that were scheduled to take place on May 19 and 21 were called off at the 11th hour by the RMT union.

However, the union said that the "dispute is not over".

A RMT union spokesperson said: "At the 11th hour, the employer has shifted its position allowing us to further explore our members' concerns around the imposition of new rosters, fatigue and safety issues.

"The dispute is not over and more strike action will follow if we fail to make sufficient progress."

Strikes scheduled for June 16 and 18 were also suspended.

The dispute focuses on TfL's proposal to introduce a voluntary four-day working week for Tube drivers.

Drivers currently earn around £80,000 a year and work 36 hours over five days.

TfL is proposing that they instead work 35 hours spread across four days.

The RMT union, however, is pushing for a 32-hour working week over four days.

TfL's chief operating officer, Claire Mann, said that proposal would be too expensive for London to sustain, estimating that it would add costs running into tens of millions of pounds.

No service is expected on the following lines:

Circle line

Piccadilly line

Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate

Central line between White City and Liverpool Street

Another 24 hour strike is planned for tomorrow, Thursday June 4, from 12.01am to 11.59pm.

TfL is also advising anyone needing to use the Tube this evening should complete their journeys by 9pm tonight.

Transport for London (TfL) has apologised to customers for a “difficult” day as members of the RMT union took strike action in a dispute over plans for a four-day week for workers.

Another day of disruption is expected tomorrow.

Good morning. My name is Lauran O'Toole.

I will be taking over this live coverage and will be bringing you the latest on the second wave of tube strikes this week.

Here's the low-down if you're wondering: What services will run as normal during Thursday's Tube strikes?

Other TfL services like the Elizabeth line, DLR, the London Overground, buses, and trams will all run as normal. Commuters, heed this warning, though: Expect them to be busy.

TfL's travel advice is to plan ahead, check before you travel, and to use alternative routes if possible. Alternatively, you could skip public transport altogether and make the most of summer by walking or biking in, if possible.

Or catch an exorbitantly priced Uber, as the ride-share app takes full advantage of the chaos.

Good news everyone. Well, everyone wanting to catch the Hammersmith & City Line. A 'good' service rating has been restored for that line on the London Underground, leaving just the Circle Line as the only one casing major headaches for commuters this morning.

It would seem delays on the District Line have been brought under control, with that underground service now joining its brethren under the 'good service' column on the TfL website.

Brits are again looking down the barrel of fresh travel misery in London, with the morning rush hour hampered by delays, cancellations, and general woe.

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed a nightmare start for commuters on the Circle Line, which has been struck down by "severe delays" affecting the entire line. Desperate passengers face lengthy waits on platforms this morning after a wave of sudden train cancellations.

And the misery doesn’t stop there for the workers, students, commuters, tourists, and anyone else travelling on the Tube this morning.

The District Line has also been hit, with TfL reporting minor delays on the busy stretch between Turnham Green and Ealing Broadway. Meanwhile, passengers on the Hammersmith & City Line are facing a sluggish start to the day with minor delays stretching across the entire route.

Fortunately, it is not all bad news. TfL statuses indicate a "good service" is currently operating on all other Tube lines.

Transport for London (TfL) is now reporting a disruption to some services on the underground. But, don't worry. If you said: "Ah, fiddlesticks. Which ones?"

Well, it's these ones:

The Mayor of London has urged the union RMT to get back to the negotiating table today for talks in a bid to avoid another day of strike tomorrow.

Sir Sadiq Khan told the BBC: "TfL (Transport for London) are available today, they're available tomorrow to talk to the RMT.

"I'd encourage (RMT) and TfL to get in the room and resolve this around the table rather than the disruption industrial action causes."

The RMT Union has taken a digital swipe at a frustrated commuter.

Responding on X, the group said: "Our members are simply seeking to establish what the implications are of proposed wholesale changes to their terms and conditions.

"That's not entitled, that's a fundamental and basic right, Emily."

Here's some more shots from yesterday's Tube strikes.

The London underground was thrown into chaos yesterday when members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) held a 24-hour strike amid a dispute between the union and Transport for London over a proposed change of working hours.

Here's Tuesday in pictures:

Here is a simple graphic that should sum up today's Tube journey's for you - and how the rest of the week will be impacted by planned industrial action.

According to Transport for London, normal services are expected on Wednesday 3 June and Friday 5 June.

An initial round of Tube strikes planned for March this year were suspended by the RMT union after fresh negotiations took place with TfL.

In April however, two 24-hour strikes went ahead as the RMT called for the proposed 35-hour week to be reduced to 32 hours across four days.

A further two 24-hour strikes were called off in May at the last minute after the RMT and TfL agreed to discuss "rosters, fatigue and safety issues" related to the four-day week.

Yesterday saw London's tube service descend into chaos, while tomorrow marks the next round of strike action, kicking off from 00.01am.

Sadiq Khan told BBC Radio London yesterday that the strikes are "a sign of failure" and urges RMT and TfL to "get round the table" to resolve the issue.

He said: "The workers on strike lose a day's salary, TfL loses revenues, businesses are losing their customers, people have hospital appointments they can't get to. This is a massive inconvenience."

Here's a recap of how things went last night:

TfL warned commuters to complete their journeys by 9pm on Tuesday, as some lines are expected to finish their services much earlier than usual.

Travellers were also reminded that services that are running - buses, the Elizabeth line, DLR, and Overground lines - will be much busier this evening.

As for Thursday, you can expect much of the same - plan ahead and get home early.

If you want to check out all of yesterday's Tube strike-related mayhem, be sure to check yesterday's blog, available here.

Another round of 24-hours of strike action will kick off just after midnight. Technically, strike action will run from 00:01 to 23:59 on June 4, so commuters are advised to allow extra travel time for their journeys into work, school, or otherwise. Alternate forms of transport are also recommended, as what transport that does run is expected to be rammed.

As per a TfL spokesperson: “During the strikes, we expect some disruption to journeys on all lines.

“No service is expected on the Circle line, the Piccadilly line, the Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate, and the Central line between White City and Liverpool Street.”

The spokesperson added: “We expect to run services on other Tube lines on both days, but levels will vary.”

Good news - strikes on the Tube network ended at midnight.

But we are looking down the barrel of another day of strike action tomorrow.

For now, all services on the London Underground are looking fine. Except for the Waterloo line, which resumes at 6am.

No service is expected on...

The Circle line

The Piccadilly line

The Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate

The Central line between White City and Liverpool Street

Disruption is expected on all Underground services.

TfL has warned other services such as ​Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground, buses and trams ​will run as normal, but are likely to be busy.