Tube strike: Londoners using Central and Waterloo & City lines hit by TfL walkout

Strikes are taking place on the Central and Waterloo & City lines on Wednesday 7 November

Rush hour chaos as Central Line tube staff goes on strike

A 24-hour strike is taking place on the Central and Waterloo & City lines on 7 November, with limited or no service across both lines.

The Central line will resume at around 5.30am on Thursday 8 November.

During the walkout, Central line tickets are being accepted on London Buses, London Overground, London DLR, TfL Rail and Greater Anglia services.

Key Points

Strike on the Central line will last until 5.30am on Thursday 8 November

[7 November 2018 08:18 · Cathy Adams]

Commuters into Central London are facing disruption this morning, as both the Central and Waterloo City lines are off due to strike action.

Stations including Stratford, Liverpool Street, Oxford Circus and Notting Hill Gate will all be without the Central Line and are expected to be extremely busy.

Transport for London advises using alternative routes on local buses and other routes, as well as walking between stations if possible.

[7 November 2018 08:25 · Cathy Adams]

The strike has been called by the the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which cites a breakdown in industrial relations and abuse of procedures as the cause behind the strikes.

General secretary Mick Cash said: “Industrial relations along the Central Line have been at breaking point for some time now and the failure of the management to address the issues, and a conscious decision to up the ante by attempting to single out and pick off individual members of staff, has tipped the situation over the edge and has led to the announcement of strike action."

A walkout on the Piccadilly Line was called off late last night, as RMT announced it was suspending the action after progress was made in talks in a dispute over industrial relations.

[7 November 2018 08:42 · Cathy Adams]

Separately, Heathrow Express and Transport for London trains between the airport and London Paddington are heavily disrupted because of Network Rail carrying out “urgent repairs to the track between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington”.

It appears that there is a broken rail between Ealing Broadway and West Ealing, and while engineers are working to repair the damage trains on the other lines which would normally be travelling at over 100mph are being slowed to a crawl for safety reasons.

Passengers are being warned: “Trains may be cancelled, delayed or amended to not call at all stations.” 

Long-distance services are being affected. Two trains from Swansea, Cardiff and Newport are arriving over an hour late, and the early arrival from Plymouth and Exeter has been cancelled.  

[7 November 2018 08:47 · Cathy Adams]

[7 November 2018 08:51 · Cathy Adams]

TfL advises walking between stations if your journey is a short one.

Its walking map here shows average walking time between stations in zones 1-3.

[7 November 2018 08:56 · Cathy Adams]

The RMT union, which called the Central line strike, has said its members are standing "absolutely rock solid" behind the 24-hour walkout. 

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT members are standing absolutely rock solid and united the length of the Central Line this morning as they send out the clearest possible signal that they will not be bullied into accepting a wholesale undermining of workplace justice and rights.

“Industrial relations along the Central Line have been at breaking point for some time now and the failure of the management to address the issues, and a conscious decision to up the ante by attempting to single out and pick off individual members of staff, has tipped the situation over the edge and has led to the strike action today."

It calls today's strike action the "clearest possible demonstration" to TfL bosses about "the level of anger on the job".

[7 November 2018 09:05 · Cathy Adams]

TfL is advising that some stations will be particularly busy today, especially during the morning and evening peaks, and they may need to close temporarily to stop overcrowding.

These stations are: Stratford, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Bank, Liverpool Street, Woodford, Mile End, Leytonstone, White City, Ealing Broadway, Oxford Circus and Notting Hill Gate.

[7 November 2018 09:17 · Cathy Adams]

At least passengers have a sense of humour...

[7 November 2018 10:02 · Cathy Adams]

The Independent's travel correspondent Simon Calder is at London Paddington, as services to and from Heathrow are heavily disrupted.

This is what he says:

Passengers are staring blankly at departure boards which are listing the many cancellations. Half the number of Heathrow Express trains are running, while many inter-city services are delayed or cancelled.

When trains finally arrive, some travellers are sprinting for appointments. Gwinnie Jones tweeted from the train:

The problem was with Network Rail, owned by the Department for Transport.

Carl Morgan had travelled from Doncaster to London but faced problems on the final part of his journey, to Slough.

He told The Independent: "Some delays as usual, but it’s what we’ve come to expect. Trying to keep the lines open is where they need better organisation."

[7 November 2018 10:09 · Cathy Adams]

The Independent's Shehab Khan responds to a (now deleted) tweet of Ben Goldsmith, brother of Zac Goldsmith, who blamed immigration policy on today's Tube walkout.