London Subway Workers’ Strike to Disrupt Travelers in City

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- London’s 3.5 million Tube travelers face disruption today with as many as 10,000 of the subway’s drivers, station staff and engineers staging the first of a series of 24-hour strikes over employment cuts.

The walkout over 800 jobs and restricted hours for ticket offices will start today after talks broke down last week. London Mayor Boris Johnson has called in 100 extra buses and a 500-berth boat that will carry 10,000 people on the River Thames to help commuters.

The stoppage, the fourth to shut down the London Underground since 2002, may cost the economy 48 million pounds ($74 million), according to estimates by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Picket lines will be manned across all main stations and depots and the action will cause “wholesale disruption to services across the entire Tube network,” RMT spokesman Geoff Martin said in an e-mailed statement.

Maintenance and engineering workers will walk out from 5 p.m., followed four hours later by drivers, signalers and station workers. More stoppages are scheduled for the same times on Oct. 3 and on Nov. 2 and Nov. 28.

“London can ill afford disruption to its transport network at the best of times, but with economic conditions as tough as they are, this will put further strain on businesses when they need it least,” said Helen Hill, director of policy at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. There will still be “huge disruption” even with Transport for London’s plans for extra services, she said.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aV7hkE4RHQJg&pos=8

If "somebody" would come up with the glorious idea to modernize London´s underground from the scratch, I would be the first one to invest some GBP...

 

Need to get rid of all the current staff, automate all the trains and bring in the Japanese to run it.

 

So that people who don't want to board a crowded train and stay on the platform are pushed inside by the staff.

 

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/4/Japanese-Train-Push-484931.html

 

privatize it.

 

This didn't work for the train network. Prices went massively up, but delays became much more frequesnt and safety record deteriorated.

 

please explain in more detail.

in general privatizing doesn't work without competition.

 

I don´t know how London is going to handle Olympic Games. Absolute mystery. Instead of making the underground a groundbreaking infrastructure project for the next 15 years...

 

Sure it does... through no-bid contracts.

 

if there is no competition it doesn't work as service deteriorates similarly to under public ownership.