London Underground train drivers are set to walk out on Monday, April 8, and Saturday, May 4. ASLEF union officials and TfL are said to be ‘a very long way’ from a deal after talks recommenced on Wednesday, March 27.
They are scheduled to meet again this week. Finn Brennan, the union’s organiser on London Underground, claims that TfL wants drivers to work longer shifts, spending up to 25 per cent more time in the cab, and to ‘remove all current working agreements in the name of flexibility and efficiency’.
But TfL has said that it has ‘no plans to impose these changes and have committed to no one losing their job as part of these changes’.
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Now, the authority has issued advice to customers ahead of Monday’s planned strike. This includes a warning that services could begin late on the day after.
The authority said in an email: “If these strikes go ahead, there will be severe disruption across the London Underground network, with little or no service expected. Any services that do run, will not run after 7pm.
“No other TfL services are on strike, but they will be busier than normal and queuing systems may also be in place. On Tuesday, April 9, London Underground services may start later than normal. We expect that a good service will be running by mid-morning.”
Customers travelling on these days have been advised to plan ahead or consider alternative routes including walking and cycling. Officials also say that people should check before they travel and allow more time for their journey.
National Rail strikes
ASLEF members are also due to strike on National Rail services. Below is a full breakdown of these dates and which operators would be affected.
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Friday, April 5 – Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway
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Saturday, April 6 – Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, LNER, Northern and TransPennine Express
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Monday, April 8 – c2c, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express), South Western Railway (including Island Line), Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink
In addition, the above train operators will have an overtime ban from Thursday, April 4, to Saturday, April 6, and from Monday, April 8, to Tuesday, April 9. Officials say that, on the days when full strike action is taking place, there are likely to be ‘little or no services’ across large areas of the network.
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