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London Tube strike causes chaos
04/09/2007 11:51 - (SA)
London - Most of London's sprawling subway network was shut down by a strike on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers to walk, switch to trains or buses, or just stay home.
Around 2 300 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers launched a 72-hour strike at 18:00 on Monday in a dispute related to the collapse of their employer, maintenance consortium Metronet.
There was no service on nine of the network's 12 lines, subway operator Transport for London said.
"I've had to get three trains and two buses this morning to get to work - it's ludicrous, I'm already tired," said Adrian Wells, 57, an accountant from Sutton, south of London.
Jennifer Evans, 29, who was waiting at a taxi stand outside Victoria Station, estimated that she had moved three metres in 20 minutes.
"It doesn't seem as if there's enough taxis for everyone but I suppose they are picking up people stranded across London because of all this chaos," she said.
Strike 'purposeless'
London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the union was disrupting the lives of Londoners for no reason.
"This strike is one of the most purposeless ever called," Livingstone said on Monday. "All of the issues raised have been settled."
Metronet's workers maintain tracks, trains and signals on some of the subway system's busiest routes, and have demanded assurances that their jobs would be protected under the arrangements being made to try to rescue the company, which has been unable to pay its debts.
"From what I've read it seems Ken Livingstone's given all the assurances that he can," said commuter Phil Breeden, 42.
"We're living in a grown-up business world and people should realise we can't protect everyone's job for ever."
Two-thirds of Tube inoperative
London Underground said that two-thirds of London's subway system, known as The Tube, would be inoperative.
"My husband and I missed the first two buses but you just have to deal with it, don't you?" said Lesley Jones, 51, from suburban Bromley, who started an hour early to beat the crush.
"Our philosophy is to go with the flow because there's nothing you can do but we've seen a lot of people getting tense and irate."
Metronet's management said it had given the union's members written guarantees that their jobs were safe. But the RMT said it still wanted guarantees from Metronet that there would be no job losses, forced transfers or pension cuts. It warned of another 72-hour strike next week.
The Tube carries an average of more than three million passengers a day over 410km of track.
- AP
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