London bus drivers are reportedly close to passing out at the wheel due to soaring temperatures inside their vehicles, raising the risk of fatal collisions, according to Unite the Union. Over 1,500 Arriva North bus drivers from eight depots across north and east London and Essex began two days of industrial action on Friday, the first of several walk-outs planned until mid-October.
Drivers describe heatstroke and near-misses
Drivers have reported falling ill with heatstroke as internal temperatures exceeded 40C, with some saying they narrowly avoided crashes. Peter Crane, 62, a driver for 22 years, showed a photo of his cab reading 44C on Friday. He said: “We’re so fed up, we get into the bus, and it’s absolutely boiling.”
“It makes you drowsy. It makes you feel a bit uncomfortable. You’re sweating, you’re sticky. It’s like, you get off a plane, you go to Greece or Spain or something. It’s like being in a greenhouse. That’s my life. You can’t walk out. It’s not like an air-conditioned office. Not like our bosses, our directors, who are driving by with what we need, air-con in a car, it’s cool.”
Asked what he would say to Arriva, Crane said: “Do you really care about the comfort of your staff? Because there’s no evidence of it. It’s all talk.”
Strike action and union demands
Crane was among around 50 drivers striking outside Wood Green bus garage. Protesters gathered peacefully with music, holding placards reading “Too hot to work. Act now!” and handing out pamphlets reading “No to heatstroke. Yes to heat strikes.”
Drivers work shifts of up to 10 hours with a break in the middle. Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has said, via LBC, that drivers have the right to refuse to drive a bus if it is too hot. However, striking drivers said they feared sanctions from their company if they followed this advice.
Driver Moe Manir, 38, said drivers were threatened with docked pay or disciplinaries for refusing to drive in intense heat. He said: “It’s very difficult to concentrate and it’s a safety critical role. It’s very easy that a scooter or cyclist comes out from the side road, and if you’re tired or fatigued because of the excessive heat, you could have a fatality there.”
Call for air conditioning and response
Another driver, Peter Skinner, 56, said: “It’s very hard, very exhausting, tiring, it’s awful. I know a young lady personally that works in another garage who passed out as she stepped out a cab, she was pregnant at the time.” He added: “It’s absolutely pressing, isn’t it? How long is it going to be before a driver does pass out on the wheel? Think of the carnage of a 14-tonne bus with 80 people in it, that could make a big mess.”
Unite regional officer Steve Stockwell said driving conditions this summer have been “some of the worst they’ve ever been”, despite union warnings 18 months ago. He said: “There are two parties that need to make a change. TfL send the spec sheets out that the operators have to use, so TFL needs to change the specs. But the operators are the employers. So they need to do something to keep our drivers cool, we need a structure to get air conditioning on all our buses.”
Wasim Mohammed, managing director of Arriva London, said: “Extreme heat is creating challenges across many sectors, including London’s bus network. The wellbeing of our colleagues and customers is our top priority, and we are working closely with Transport for London to ensure appropriate support is in place.” He added that Arriva has introduced additional support, including regular breaks and welfare checks, and is investing in upgrades such as air conditioning and new buses, with these upgrades led by TfL as part of its extreme heat taskforce. He urged Unite to return to negotiations to avoid further disruption.
