London Tube strike news

FLASH - Tube Strike this week called off!

Major bummer!

While I sympathize with employees fearful of losing their jobs, as a tourist boarding a plane for Heathrow tomorrow I am breathing a sigh of relief. This will definitely make it easier for us to navigate around London.

@Ray - Why would it be a major bummer?

Maybe he wanted a ride on the vintage buses ...

@ Andrea,

It the curiosity in me that wants to see a major city shut down. also, to see how POed the regular folks will get at the government and if the government will get it.

happy trails.

Selfishly, I am relieved as we are due to land Thurs. a.m. On the other hand, I learned quite a bit about bus routes from the tfl website, so we will use those more than we have in the past.

"@ Andrea,
It the curiosity in me that wants to see a major city shut down. also, to see how POed the regular folks will get at the government and if the government will get it.
happy trails."

Ray, do you think you would be as curious if it was your life that was being disrupted?

A previous poster wants to see a major city shut down. Actually, that already happened in London for 2 days last week, and anyone curious about the disruption, etc can consult numerous news articles on the net.

As someone who is arriving in London this week, I was happy to learn that this week's strike has been cancelled! :)

@ Andrea,

"@ Andrea,

It the curiosity in me that wants to see a major city shut down. also, to see how POed the regular folks will get at the government and if the government will get it.
happy trails."
Ray, do you think you would be as curious if it was your life that was being disrupted?"

been there done that.

happy trails.

emma and George,

do you really just see it as the union bashing heads with TfL? Do you not see the greater issue of the service provided by the booking offices to the traveling public, both local and tourist?

Do you think there would be no change for the worst if every single one of the 300+ booking offices was closed? Do you think that would be the end of it, as TfL has said they would deploy all those staff to the platforms? How long do you think it would take them to then say, all these people are just standing around and get rid of them?

How would that benefit people who need help and information?

I ask these questions as a person in a similar union elsewhere on the rail network. I have to decide who to support, and would like to hear from a tourist and a local. They are serious questions.

And, yes, I am always sorry to the traveling public when they get caught up in disputes. Often I think they don't involve the public - like pay disputes - but in this case I think that the public has a lot to lose.

@ Keith,

I look at it from a travelers (non native point of view which some of you forget since you do it day to day and in your sleep). I needed some help and the ticket person was of great help to me. Also when im in a different country, the ticket machines need some time to figure out what you need to do too. When i was in a small town in Belgium i had my ticket reference number to retrieve my ticket but the machine would not accept it and there was only one machine. Luckly there was a person manning the office that was able to issues me a ticket. Its not like i would be stuck there either. If i couldnt get my ticket, i would just jump on the train i wanted to get on but i would have to maybe face a fair inspector and try to explain why i didnt have my ticket in hand.

So, yes, im sure there are many over paid government works in the UK and everywhere else in the world, but why not try trimming the fat in some other places as well? the Tube system is used by not just locals buy also buy alot of travelers too. Every time i go through Victoria station i see lines to the ticket window and people standing around trying to figure how things work and how to get from A to B. My last trip i was stopped by an elderly UK couple that asked me how to get to someplace. I told them i was a tourist, but they didnt care! No one was there to help them either. How about having less management (not knowing the structure) or look at making the system more efficient? are the managers on the front lines helping people? or do they just sit back and relax until the problems happen?

im sure you and others have your reasons for dumping the workers and im sure they are all valid but to me, the front line workers provide a service that others need.

happy trails.

There are already a few underground stations without a ticket office and just about all of the separate DLR stations.

TfL clearly wants to get out in the medium to long run of running its own fare collection and handling any cash to directly charging bank cards and selling its own residual card largely through vending machines, online and through other channels such as local shops as has been done elsewhere in parts of Europe for decades.

The Olympics is what TfL points to as the success of having active friendly helpers around the system. I have my doubts they can recreate that vibe as that was largely possible utilising a cadre of self-motivated volunteers. Maybe the existing staff though can raise to that kind of challenge - indeed many of the volunteers were associated with TfL in other than front line jobs.