London’s commuters are facing some of the worst public transport conditions in years this week as RMT union drivers launched the first of a planned series of Underground strikes that will run across April, May and June, turning the capital’s usually reliable Tube network into a patchwork of disrupted and partially cancelled services.
The first 24-hour walkout ran from noon on Tuesday April 21 to noon on Wednesday April 22, and a second strike is scheduled from noon on Thursday April 23 through noon on Friday April 24, meaning four consecutive days of disrupted travel in total across this initial wave of action.
The core dispute between the RMT and Transport for London is over proposed changes to how drivers’ working hours are structured. TfL’s management wants to shift from the current 36-hour working week spread across five days to a condensed pattern of 35 hours across four days, which would mean drivers working longer individual shifts with one fewer paid lunch break.
TfL frames the change as more modern and operationally efficient, but the RMT sees it differently — the union, led by General Secretary Eddie Dempsey, is pushing for a reduction to 32 hours over four days rather than an increase in individual shift length, arguing that longer shifts create driver fatigue and put passengers at risk.
The practical impact on the network has been severe in places, with the Piccadilly and Circle lines running no service at all during the strike window, the Metropolitan line operating only between Baker Street and Aldgate rather than its full length, and the Central line running a curtailed service between White City and Liverpool Street.
TfL said it expected to run a reduced service across most lines, but warned that significant disruption should be anticipated regardless of the reduced timetable. The Elizabeth line, Overground, DLR and the vast majority of bus routes are continuing to operate normally throughout the strike period, and those services have inevitably become significantly more congested than usual.
The strikes were originally planned for March but were called off following what the union described as progress in talks with London Underground management — an optimistic pause that has now ended without a resolution, with the two sides still too far apart on the shift structure question to avoid the industrial action resuming.
A separate bus strike on routes 8, 25, 205, 425 and associated night services is also scheduled for Friday April 24 in east London, adding a second pressure point for that part of the city. TfL has encouraged passengers to use its journey planner to check real-time service updates, and e-bike hire schemes such as Lime and Forest have reported a significant uptick in demand throughout the disruption period.