Tube strike: RMT union announces second 24-hour January walkout for Central and Waterloo & City Line staff

No service east of Leytonstone, reduced service on rest of Central Line, and no Waterloo & City Line

The London-wide tube strike earlier this month affected services for more than 24 hours

London Underground drivers will stage a 24-hour strike in a dispute over the “forced displacement” of staff.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union who work on the Central Line will walk out from 9pm on Wednesday.

There will be no service east of Leytonstone, and a reduced service on the rest of the Central Line, while the Waterloo & City Line will not run at all.

Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said: “RMT negotiators have made strenuous efforts through the Acas machinery to resolve this dispute but the door has been slammed in our faces.

“If LU are allowed to get away with this move on the Central Line they will start shunting drivers around at the drop of a hat regardless of the consequences.

“Our members will be sent out from pillar to post to plug gaps that are solely down to staffing shortages.

“With massive budget cuts in the pipeline at LU this is a straw in the wind as to how the company expects to operate in the future.

“Staff across London Underground are angry and the company would be wise to recognise that.”

A shuttle bus will operate between Epping and Chingford in north-east London.

Other London Underground services will operate as normal, but will inevitably be affected by passengers opting for alternative routes.

During the Sunday-to-Monday 24-hour walkout on 8 and 9 January, which closed an estimated 96 per cent of stations, Clapham Junction was evacuated because of overcrowding and various key capital trunk roads were congested.

Peter McNaught, operations director for the Central line, said: “We apologise to customers for the disruption they may experience due to this unnecessary strike.

“We have made all reasonable efforts to resolve this dispute with the RMT through talking through the issues with them, and we have minimised the number of employees affected from 30 to eight.

“We urge the RMT to engage with us to resolve this issue and to withdraw the strike action, which will only cause needless disruption to Londoners.”

Press Association