April Tube strike: TfL travel advice for this week’s London Tube strike with District Line running a reduced service on Ealing Broadway branch
Transport for London (TfL) has issued advice for today’s 24-hour strike by Tube drivers, aiming to provide service across the District Line though there will be disruption.
The strike will be a 24-hour one on Friday 13 April and has been called by the train drivers’ union Aslef, with members at Acton Town striking for a day on Friday in a row over the handling of a driver’s reported safety breaches.
The District Line will be disrupted by the strike, with TfL saying it expects to run about 60 per cent of service on the line on the day. This morning it was running with severe delays.
It said there will be delays to journeys on the line throughout Friday, so customers should allow more time to complete journeys or change to a different line where possible.
Read more: What you need to know about this week’s 24-hour strike by Tube drivers
District Line disruption on Friday
The impact is expected to be minimal in central London due to normal service on the Circle Line, with regular services between Gloucester Road and Tower Hill
It will be worse for trains going to all western branches of the District line via Earl’s Court and east of Tower Hill, as there will be longer gaps between trains
There will be no services to Kensington (Olympia), however London Overground and Southern services will be calling at the station as usual
TfL Travel ambassadors will be at key locations to provide travel information and advice to customers
The Ealing Broadway branch could be particularly tricky because at the moment, it’s expected to be two trains an hour running there on the Friday. Passengers will be able to plan alternative journeys here, with more information on the Tube strike here.
Yesterday, Aslef confirmed the strike would go ahead, saying London Underground had refused to talk to the union.
Finn Brennan, Aslef’s organiser on the London Underground, said that instead of recognising the union’s concerns, management was “refusing to acknowledge that they have failed to follow their own procedures; threatened a disciplinary hearing to make a driver “agree” to be redeployed; and now refuse to talk to this union”.
TfL disputes Aslef’s version of events, saying no disciplinary action has been taken against the driver in question.
Nigel Holness, London Underground’s director of network operations, said:
The situation is not as the union has described as no disciplinary action has been taken against the employee and our action is in line with the safety policies agreed with our trade unions.
I apologise to customers for the disruption this completely unnecessary strike will cause and call on the unions to continue working with us to ensure the safety of our customers and staff.
The row may not be over anytime soon either, as Aslef has also said it has given London Underground notice that members at Earl’s Court depot on the District Line have been balloted for strike action too.
Read more: A four-day DLR strike will go ahead – clashing with the London Marathon