Commuters are bracing for more chaos as London prepares to be gripped by a second 24-hour Tube strike tonight. The walkout will begin at one minute past midnight this evening and comes after an earlier strike on Tuesday left crowds of people stranded on platforms while others were seen flooding bus stops in the rain.
Which Tube services will be impacted by strike on Thursday?
No service is expected from midnight on the Circle line, Piccadilly line, Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate, and the Central line between White City and Liverpool Street. Other services - the Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground, buses and trams - will run as normal but are likely to be extremely busy. TfL has issued guidance for those wanting to avoid disruption where they can tomorrow. During the strike, services will start late and finish early. There will be limited services before 6:30am on Thursday, and customers are being warned to complete their journeys before 9pm.
When will the next Tube strike start?
The next 24-hour Tube strike will begin at one minute past midnight this evening and will end at 23:59 BST. TfL has warned commuters to expect disruption to journeys on all lines during this time. Normal service is expected today and Friday June 5, TfL says.
Reactions to the Tube strikes
Frustrated commuters took to social media yesterday as strike action saw journeys either delayed or cancelled. One Tube user said they were "so sick" of the strikes while another took the opportunity to get some more steps in. A dad has told how his two sons made their A-Level and GCSE exams "by the skin of their teeth" yesterday after Tube strikes forced him to drive them to school. "My sons made it by the skin of their teeth but anxiety levels were sky high while they were sitting in grid-locked traffic," Rick told the BBC. He called the strike "totally disgraceful", adding: "I will never forgive the unions if this jeopardises their futures."
Strikes had 'serious impact on Londoners, businesses and commuters,' Khan says
The mayor of London said this week's Tube strikes had a "serious impact on Londoners, businesses and commuters" and urged talks between TfL and RMT to resume. "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," Sir Sadiq said. Sadiq Khan called the strikes a 'massive inconvenience'.
RMT hits out at frustrated Tube user
The RMT Union has hit out at a frustrated commuter who called striking Tube drivers "entitled". 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."
Second Tube strike to go ahead as planned, transport chief says
A London transport boss has dashed hopes that the RMT may scrap its second planned strike this week. Nick Dent, Director of Customer Operations on the London Underground for Transport for London, said the union was clear it would be walking out again on Thursday. Asked if there was any chance of a deal that could prevent the second strike from occurring, he said: "Unfortunately, not this week. We did ask yesterday. We were in talks at Acas. Dent told BBC Radio London yesterday: "We asked them to suspend both strike days this week to allow further talks to take place. We did agree together that talks would continue next week, but unfortunately, the RMT made clear to us yesterday they had made the decision to go ahead with both days this week. We are available for talks. We'd talk today, or we'd talk tomorrow, but they made clear, unfortunately, that both of these days will be going ahead this week."
Disruption expected all day today between London and Shepperton
All lines between Fulwell, west London, and Shepperton, north Surrey, are blocked today due to heavy rain flooding on the tracks, South Western Rail has said. "Engineers worked throughout the evening and early morning to remove the water and restore the service but were not successful," the operator said. "Work will continue throughout the day to clear the flooding and ensure the railway is safe before services can be reinstated."
Will there be more strikes in June?
Fresh strike action is expected to hit London bus routes later this month following a dispute around scheduling and driver fatigue, the Unite union said. More than 300 drivers at the East London Bus & Coach Company, part of Stagecoach, plan to walk out again from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 14. Commuters are warned that services operating from Bow bus garage, including those that go to central London and Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, will be impacted. The affected routes are: 8, N8, 25, N25, 45, 205, N205 and 425.
Tube usage down 43% yesterday
TfL apologised to customers for the disrupted service yesterday, but said 60% of drivers turned up for work - which is more than in previous strikes. According to TfL's data, around 86% of Oyster and contactless card taps had been recorded across London on Tuesday compared to the equivalent day last year. Tube usage was down 43%, the Elizabeth line was up 17%, the Overground was up 9% and bus usage was up 5%.
Tube strikes: A timeline
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.
Exact times to avoid Tube travel
TfL has issued guidance for those wanting to avoid disruption where they can tomorrow. During the strike, services will start late and finish early. There will be limited services before 6:30am on Thursday, and customers are being warned to complete their journeys before 9pm.
