London faces Tube chaos
LONDONERS are facing another gruelling day of commuting across the capital as London Underground (LU) workers launch a second 24-hour strike in as many months.
The walkout, which will finish at 6:28pm tonight, will cause extreme disruption to this morning’s commute as the entire Underground network is affected by the action.
At 6:29pm yesterday, over 10,000 Tube staff walked off the job in protest at planned staffing cuts by LU management that would see more than 800 jobs axed.
TfL has added 100 extra buses on the roads today, increased the capacity of the Thames river services and has organised marshalled taxis in a bid to deal with the strike and help commuters get around the city.
The public transport group said it ran one-third of underground trains during the last strike.
Tube unions the RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) have warned that the job cuts pose severe safety risks to workers and the public, but Transport for London (TfL) said that changes to staffing levels were unavoidable.
Mayor Boris Johnson, said: “As we saw in the last strike, the belligerent actions of the union leaderships will not bring London to a halt.”