Double strike misery for commuters with delayed Tube re-opening and national walkout

Commuters on Thursday faced the double whammy of a delayed reopening of the Tube and cancelled trains as four more days of national rail strikes got underway.

Large numbers of frustrated passengers were locked outside Piccadilly line stations such as Southgate and Arnos Grove until around 9am due to the line being the last on the Underground to restore services after Wednesday’s strike by Aslef and RMT members.

It came as fewer than half of trains on the national rail network were running as the RMT resumed its pay dispute with 14 train firms. Further rail strikes are planned for this Saturday, March 30 and April 1.

In addition, many thousands of London pupils faced a second day at home as teachers belonging to the National Education Union remained on strike across the country.

London Underground Budget Day Tube Strike | Wednesday 15th March 2023

By 9am, only four of the Tube’s 11 lines had a “good” service – while the Piccadilly line remained shut between Hammersmith and Cockfosters, though some services were reaching Heathrow. By 930am, services were starting to resume on the full line.

A TfL spokesman said the restart was slower on the Piccadilly line because of its length and because its depots are some distance apart, at Cockfosters and Northfields.

As a result, ensuring suffient trains were running to enable stations to open “takes time”. By contrast, some staff on other Tube lines came in early to get these services restarted as quickly as possible.

There appeared little end in sight to the rail strikes, with RMT general secretary Mick Lynch describing the nine per cent pay offer over two years as “rubbish” and castigating the private train firms for making more than £400m a year profit.

Mr Lynch told Sky News: “We have not accepted it because it’s a really poor offer. It’s rubbish, really.”

More trains were running today than on any previous strike day in the current dispute. But the last Edinburgh train from King’s Cross on London North Eastern Railways was departing at 1pm and its last service to Leeds at 3.05pm

Thameslink and Southern, which previously were unable to run any trains, offered a “limited” timetable.

The last Thameslink trains from St Pancras to St Albans, Luton Airport Parkway and Bedford will leave at 8.49pm.

The last Southern train from Victoria to Sutton will leave at 5.30pm, and the last Brighton train will depart at 8.50pm.

Southeastern, another key commuter railway, said 52 out of its 180 stations were open.

But it had only two trains an hour on its “metro” lines and no services beyond Bromley South, Bromley North, Sevenoaks, Ashford International and Dartford – leaving towns such as Margate, Dover and Tunbridge Wells without trains.

Passengers have been warned to expect knock-on delays tomorrow morning due to trains being out of place.

The Department for Transport has accused the RMT of denying members “a say on their own future” by not putting the last pay offer – which offers lower paid workers a 13 per cent increase - to a referendum.

More talks are planned next week.

Steve Montgomery, of the Rail Delivery Group, told the BBC: “We have asked the RMT to put this offer to their members. They have never had the opportunity to vote on this. We believe it’s a fair offer.”