London’s commuters face travel chaos as tube strike hits hard

[LONDON] Londoners face severe travel disruption as a seven-day strike by workers on the city’s underground train network gets into full force.

All fleet staff as well as engineering, station and train workers walk out on Monday, causing chaos for the UK capital’s commuters. Trains on the National Rail, Elizabeth Line and the Overground are also likely to be affected as some routes run over London Underground tracks and through Tube stations. 

Staff are protesting over pay and working conditions. A proposal by the RMT labour union to reduce the contractual 35-hour working week isn’t affordable, Transport for London (TFL) has said. 

TfL on Friday urged the RMT to suspend the strike action, saying it should put its 3.4% pay rise offer to staff. The union launched the ballot before any offer was made, it added.

Services on the Docklands Light Railway, which runs to the key financial district of Canary Wharf, will also be impacted by a separate strike, with no service on Tuesday and Thursday.

The walkouts could cost the economy £230 million (S$398.6 million), according to estimates by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. That doesn’t include wider impacts such as reduced consumer spending and lost productivity, according to Pushpin Singh, managing economist at CEBR.

Stores, restaurants and bars in central London are expected to suffer the most from the walkouts. Many workers in the city, particularly finance professionals, are able to carry out their jobs remotely at home, reducing the impact of the strikes. BLOOMBERG