On making her West End debut, Sarah Jessica Parker found time to praise London’s “exquisite” transport system. She had clearly arrived at that conclusion before attempting to board a train this morning.
An unstable combination of brute chaos and eerie silence befell the capital’s transport network, as walkouts by members of the Aslef union brought six operators to a grinding halt, including Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink. These strikes were meant to be a first test of the new minimum service levels legislation, which ought to ensure train operators run 40 per cent of services. Yet none of the train companies — including government-run LNER — are invoking the law.
