London’s Tube Strikes this month: What you need to know about the March, April and May disruptions
On the tracks
Bad news, Londoners. A series of Tube strikes are on the way and may well and truly muck up your plans.
The RMT has announced new strike plans, which currently affect 12 days peppered between March and the end of May.
They land on Tuesdays to Thursdays, so if you have some work-from-home days each week, it’s a good idea to get strategic.
March 24th to 27th are the first lot. The 21st and 24th of April are the middle dates, while May 19th and 22nd are the final tranche. For now.
The action affects travel throughout each of these days. And getting around London in general may well be a a bit of a nightmare. But there's a little bit of complexity as to when the action starts and ends — although we wouldn't bet on things suddenly reverting to normal from 6am to 12pm each Thursday:
- 24th–25th March (12:00 Tuesday - 11:59 Wednesday)
- 26th–27th March (12:00 Thursday - 11:59 Friday)
- 21st–22nd April (12:00 Tuesday - 11:59 Wednesday)
- 23rd–24th April (12:00 Thursday - 11:59 Friday)
- 19th–20th May (12:00 Tuesday - 11:59 Wednesday)
- 21st–22nd May (12:00 Thursday - 11:59 Friday)
To dig a little deeper, it affects RMT union members, but not those of the Aslef union. So at present around half of Tube drivers are expected to turn up to work still.
How much of the London Underground will be functional during these strikes is a big old question mark. But at the very least you can expect a cut down and overcrowded service.
The Elizabeth line, London Overground and DLR are expected to operate — fingers crossed — largely as normal, though expect these lines to be overcrowded too as commuters make alternative travel plans with them.
The root issue of these strikes is a plan to take Tube drivers down to a four-day week. While Aslef union members agreed to these plans, the RMT has taken issue with them, citing concerns over safety regarding a compressed work week.
However, when you crunch the numbers, the drivers’ actual hours working each day aren’t that different. The plans would see drivers work eight and a half hours each day, but with a 30-minute paid break, which isn’t part of the current deal.
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