Talks are to be held on Wednesday in a bid to avert a Tube strike that could bring much of the London Underground to a standstill next Monday.
Tube drivers belonging to Aslef have called the walkout – and a second on Saturday May 4, the day the next mayor of London is due to be declared – in a long-running dispute over feared changes to working conditions.
Union leaders are due to meet Transport for London negotiators for talks that have been facilitated by Acas, the Evening Standard has learned.
TfL has warned passengers that if the strikes do go ahead there will be “severe disruption” across the Underground, “with little or no service expected on some lines” on both days.
Any Tube trains that do run are likely to be limited to peak hours and shuttle services linking the suburbs with bus or rail interchanges.
A knock-on impact is likely on each of the days following a strike day, with it taking until mid-morning before a “good service” is restored.
Business groups have warned that Tube strikes would hit the hospitality and retail sectors “especially hard” and have urged both sides to “break the current deadlock”.
TfL said the Elizabeth line, London Overground and DLR were not included in the strike action but were likely to be much busier than usual and at risk of last-minute changes.
Nick Dent, director of customer operations for London Underground, said:⯓Weâ¯are encouraging Aslef to continue engaging with us so the strike action can be avoided.
“We would like to advise anyone travelling to please check before you travel, expect services to be busy and please allow extra time to complete your journeys.”
In addition, more than 200 customer service managers belonging to the TSSA union have threatened to strike on Wednesday next week, in response to potential changes to their terms and conditions, job role and location. These managers are responsible for running Tube stations.
Aslef is also taking separate action on the national railways, starting this week, in pursuit of a pay rise for train drivers.
There will be three days of strikes – on Friday, Saturday and next Monday - with different train companies affected on different days.
Further disruption will be caused before and after the walkouts by an overtime ban that starts on Thursday and continues until next Tuesday. This will affect 16 rail companies and is likely to result in trains being cancelled with little notice.
Avanti West Coast, which operates long-distance trains on the West Coast Main Line between London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow, today advised passengers not to attempt to travel on Friday when it will be unable to run any services.
Depending on when they bought their ticket, Avanti passengers can either claim a full refund or can travel between Thursday and next Wednesday.
Andy Mellors, managing director at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re sorry our customers will face disruption to their travel plans when Aslef go on strike this Friday.
“Anyone with tickets for 5 to 8 April can make their journey on alternative days or claim a full refund.”
East Midlands Railway, which operates the Luton Airport Express trains in and out of St Pancras, is also unable to run any trains on Friday. Airport passengers will have to switch to Thameslink services.
East Midlands Railway also warned of short-notice cancellations and alterations from Thursday until next Tuesday.
The strike on Saturday will affect rail firms including Chiltern, Great Western Railway and London North East Railway.
On Monday the bulk of London commuter services will be on strike - c2c, Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern, Southeastern, South Western Railway and the Gatwick Express.
New station at Colindale will require existing station to close for six months from June 7 and a series of closures of the Edgware branch of the Northern line north of Golders Green, the first for 10 days after Easter pic.twitter.com/ch9DQyHaYm
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) February 7, 2024
The Edgware branch of the Northern line has closed until Thursday next week between Golders Green and Edgware to allow work to upgrade Colindale station to take place.
