Strikes on London Underground - the Tube - for 7 days starting Friday 5th September have been announced.
They will be rolling so not all lines at the same time, but expect inconvenience as commuters pivot to other routes to get to and from work.
Stay tuned for details
Further information posted 26th August
Additional information posted 30 August
Scroll down for even more.
OK, so the day we need to get from York to Premier Inn Waterloo/Westminster, could be affected by striking. We have train tickets to get us to Kings Cross. I'll watch for updates, thanks Nigel.
Do strikes ever go longer than the notification?
"Do strikes ever go longer than the notification?"
Unions are legally required to give 14 days' notice, but I suppose there could be additional notifications as part of a broader campaign over pay negotiations.
Thank you, Nigel. Watching this space....
I want to 2nd Map Lady: thank you, Nigel.
More details about who is striking on which days of this strike:
In a separate dispute over pay and conditions, workers on the Docklands Light Railway will also be striking during this period in the week beginning 7 September.
Planned strike action from union members includes engineers, station staff and train operators staging walkouts from midnight on 8 September until 9 September and again after midnight on 10 September.
Signallers, service control and Emergency Response Union (ERU) members will strike on 9 September and again, without ERU members, on 11 September.
Track access controllers, LU control centre staff, power/control teams and ERU members will also strike on 7 September.
Ruislip depot operational managers will strike from from 18:00 BST on 5 September to 17:59 on 6 September over pay.
More details when available
Thank you Nigel..I saw somewhere that the Elizabeth Line will not be affected. Do you know if that is the case.
That’s right Rosemary. Although it appears on the map looking like a tube line it’s actually a regular train line.
Thank you for the updated info. I tried to use the map and figure out if we'd be affected, but it doesn't seem to impact those of us going to Windsor, Hampton Court or Bletchley. Am I correct?
"it doesn't seem to impact those of us going to Windsor, Hampton Court or Bletchley. Am I correct?"
The strike only affects the tube and the DLR, not mainline rail services, so you're correct. Obviously you have to get to the train station in the first place from wherever you are staying, though.
Thank you.
Thanks for the updates, Nigel. Does anyone know where to go for updated information on the tube strikes set to begin 5 September? Does anyone know if they are set to begin at midnight? I'm assuming this does not include the southern line from Victoria station to LGW, correct? It would be good to know, if possible, which lines are running on 8 September. I guess we will need to be taking buses much of the time. Also need to allow more time as I expect the streets to be quite crowded with the tube not operating.
The TfL website has a strike page tfl.gov.uk/campaigns/strikes
However that currently has no information as details are awaited. All it has currently are the bus strikes on 29 August and 1 September against First Bus in west, North west and South West London where numerous routes will not run.
The strike on 5 September will only affect the Central line if even that as it is Ruislip depot managers. It is not the only depot on the line so the effect should be fewer trains, not none. There may be little or no effect.
Currently everything is just speculation about the effects on each day.
Victoria to Gatwick is main line railways - they are not involved - you just need to get to the station.
thanks to another post on the topic, Big Mike's https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/what-do-people-in-london-do-during-tube-dlr-all-day-strikes (thanks to GerryM) I can give the link to a TimeOut article with a quick summary:
Detail in the article https://www.timeout.com/london/news/how-to-get-around-london-during-next-weeks-tube-strikes-082925
Simply put:
The strikes will begin at 6pm on Friday September 5, with different
people walking out on each day until September 11, but the effect –
halted tube trains – will be the same whichever people are striking on
a given day. Here’s what that will look like in practice:Friday September 5: No service on Underground lines after 6pm.
Saturday September 6: No service on Underground lines all day Sunday
September 7: No service on Underground lines OR DLR all day Monday
September 8: No service on Underground lines OR DLR all day Tuesday
September 9: No service on Underground lines OR DLR all day Wednesday
September 10: No service on Underground lines OR DLR all day Thursday
September 11: No service on Underground lines OR DLR all day Friday
I wouldn't be quite so confident about the Elizabeth line running completely normally as Time Out is, particularly in the core section where the stations are integrated with Underground lines.
They might be able to keep these open using Ambassadors during the day but this might not extend to nightime or early morning. If that were the case it would run non stop between Stratford/Canary Wharf and Paddington.
Appreciate the updates. This could get interesting for residents, most importantly, and also for tourists.
Any word on level of confidence of the situation being sorted? I'd imagine the mayor and perhaps the PM would be putting pressure on both sides to reach an agreement.
There has been very little reporting of progress that I can see. All news coverage seems to be from 21st August when the strike was announced and not a peep in the papers since.
I agree - silent as little silent things in a baffled room in a studio with a sign that reads, "SILENT".
These London transport strikes have a long history of being called off at the very last minute. Nor do you negotiate via the Media.
Also the service plans above in Time Out are mere press speculation. Talking up potential problems sells copies.
Transport for London have not announced anything official at the time of writing, either on the dedicated strike page, or in their journey planner.
Another side effect (more associated with national rail strikes) is that hotel rates go through the roof as employees with expense accounts decide to stay the night in London.
We arrive from York on the 10th. Any options other than taxi to get from Kings Cross to PI Waterloo Westminster?
On the 11th, we can walk to see most of what we want to see, but at about 4:30 we'd love to get to the National Archives from St. Paul cathedral area.
Appreciate any suggestions.
From Kings Cross to Waterloo- Thameslink from St Pancras International to London Bridge, then any Charing Cross bound train one stop to Waterloo East.
St Paul's to TNA- Thameslink from Blackfriars or City Thameslink to West Hampstead Thameslink (20 minutes), exit the station, turn right for the literally 2 minute walk to West Hampstead station, London Overground (Richmond bound) to Kew Gardens (25 minutes).
On a Thameslink train the rearmost first class car is always declassified.
TNA to Waterloo- Overground one stop further south to Richmond, main line train to Waterloo.
thank you Stuart
TfL have now updated their strike page, and the Time Out information was incorrect-
DLR- No service 9 and 11 September - normal service other days;
Elizabeth Line and Overground- normal service all days but expected to be very busy;
EDIT-
Liverpool Street, Farringdon and Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth Line stations will be closed until 0730 and after 2230 on 8 and 10 September, and until 0800 and after 2230 on 9 and 11 September.
The early and late closures at Farringdon may also affect Thameslink services.
Tube- Normal service 5 and 6 September;
7 September - Limited service between 0800 and 1800 only;
8 to 11 September- severely disrupted with little or no service expected. On 8 to 12 September any services that do run will not commence before 0800.
Complete all journeys by 1800
That is at the ends of the lines- later in Central London.
On 12 September services to start at 0800, normal service by late morning.
EDITED- 3 September
isn31c, well, that's clear as mud lol, mainly the "should" part.
I guess the best option is to just check the tfl site and see if a line is running, or not. Let's hope they reach a deal, maybe 11th hour.
BBC are reporting that there are talks ongoing to try to settle the disputes. No promises but they are acknowledging that they are talking.
As of 1400 on 3 September the Evening Standard reports that negotiations have failed, so the strikes remain on.
EDIT- 9pm, 6 September - The strikes are now on, as nothing has been resolved.
Note also that all bus routes in London which are operated by First Bus will be on strike from 0500 on 12 September to 0500 on 15 September, in a separate ongoing dispute - routes affected are listed on the TfL strikes web page.
EDIT- 8am, 7 September - Circle and Bakerloo lines CLOSED, Metropolitan CLOSED between Baker Street and Aldgate (so between Paddington and Liverpool Street via St Pancras only the Hammersmith and City is open), Piccadilly - CLOSED to Uxbridge, but OPEN to Heathrow- All due to the strike.
So frustrating, very much appreciate the updates. Hoping the strikes are off by the time We get to London.
Anyone know what transit apps might be best to use in terms of being up to date on impacted routes?
Jules,
At the end of the day the TfL app is the operators own and always up to date. Anyone else is piggybacking and repackaging the same information, but is no more up to date.
For buses, I personally would be using a paper map and rerouting that day as needed. The real time feeds on the app and at stops use ancient technology. So if they aren't true I default to GPS tracking on the bustimes.org website. But in a dense urban setting even GPS fails sometimes. I've written before of when all systems failed for me once at Trafalgar Square, and I had to resort to tube to get the bus at the other end of it's route in darkest North London at the bus garage.
As for the tube it's a good and imponderable question what will happen if they can only run a fraction of the service on a line. Will they be packed out, or deathly quiet because people have made a modal shift? Will they even bother or just close the line. Even TfL don't know until the day.
Locals may know more but link here from BBC is strike has started. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2rg128l68o
Greetings! This morning I took the Victoria line to Oxford Street station, then walked to the Bond Street station to catch the Elizabeth line to Heathrow airport. It went very smoothly and the trains were full but not crazy. The TFL site warned that all trips on available tube lines be completed by 18:00. That was today.
My back up plans were to catch the National Rail train or to take a bus to somewhere near an Elizabeth line station, which, as mentioned above, will be operational (and make sure that station is open).
If you are in London this week, I highly recommend having several back-up plans for getting around and be prepared to walk a lot! Use the TFL app or website, the City Mapper app, and study the various rail services not affected by the strike. We'll all need a lot of patience and a bit of creativity to get through this week.
Cheers,
Moomin
It's going to be a nightmare. Some places it's just going to be too much hassle to reach this week, unless it's life or death. Any days you're relying on the tube to see central London visitor sites are going to be tricky. There hasn't been disruption on this scale for a while. I feel bad for Jules of this forum having to work around it this week to see London. I can rely on buses and Overground, but I've nothing really pressing scheduled in town.
So much for my prediction of sorting it out!
Update- Today all tube service is cancelled except the Central Line west of White City and the Metropolitan north of Harrow on the Hill.
White City connects on the Central Line to Ealing Broadway (for Heathrow and the Elizabeth Line) and has a big bus station including the C1 to Victoria
Harrow on the Hill normally is an interchange for Chiltern trains but this week trains are non stopping to prevent overcrowding.
However it too is a major bus station, including buses to Heathrow and Watford Junction.
There are a few other out of town bits of line now functioning so for completeness.
Northern Line: Service is operating between High Barnet/Mill Hill East and East Finchley only.
Central Line: Service is also operating Stratford and Epping/Hainault via Woodford.
Regarding the Elizabeth line, as I expected there will be through running in the core sections at the extremes of the day, although still stopping quite late. Might affect early arrivals @ Heathrow:
Trains will not stop at stations between Whitechapel and Bond Street at these times:
Monday 8 and Wednesday 10 September before 07:30 and after 22:30
Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 September before 08:00.
In case it helps anyone travelling in London this week, here's my experience this morning.
I transferred from King's Cross to Paddington just after 10am. I intentionally allowed more than enough time to walk at a leisurely pace. However, Thameslink (not a TfL service) and the Elizabeth Line were running normally, so I took the train from St Pancras to Farringdon and Farringdon to Paddington. It was quite stress-free and, although the Lizzie Line train was very busy, it was nowhere near as busy as a busy Tube train on a regular day. It took me 13 minutes.
Eventually the Northern line today was able to add Edgware to Golders Green showing how very fluid the situation is.
Golders Green is a very significant London Bus and National Express hub.
... plus Bond Street & Tottenham Court Road stations didn't actually open today until mid morning rather than the advertised 7:30, although this wasn't communicated by TfL.
Today all lines are closed except-
The Northern line- running as normal, including in central London
The Piccadilly- running at two extreme ends- Rayners Lane to Hammersmith, and Cockfosters to Arnos Grove.
The Northern line was not expected.
This is nothing to do with the present difficulties but I want to say a huge thank you to all the UK folks on this forum. Y’all are consistently going above and beyond what is helpful to all of us travelers! I really appreciate it. Tip of the cap.
Yes, Gerry, I’m kind of feeling sorry for myself. I guess, more confused, than anything. And rain is forecasted. We will arrive Kings Cross on the 10th at about 7:10pm. I think in a normal world, we’d take the Northern line to Premier Inn Waterloo Westminster. I can’t check because the apps seem to be adjusting to the strike. There was mention that Northern was running, but just parts? The idea of a couple bus transfers with luggage in the rain is not that appealing. I’m less concerned about the 11th, because I made my plans to be relatively walkable, my husband’s sore foot being the limiting factor. One way or another it all works itself out.
But mostly what I’d like to say is thank you, THANK YOU, to the really helpful Englanders on this forum!
At that time of night things ‘should’ be beginning to quiet down a bit.
The journey from Kings Cross to Waterloo is a straightforward journey south I would just get a black cab. You might have to queue for a while but it would be a lot easier than dealing with the buses.
The Northern line was working today with only minor delays. Of course there is no guarantee that it will be tomorrow but it will be worth checking when you get to King’s Cross before opting for a taxi queue.
Even if the Northern line runs tomorrow in central London, a giant if, any potential service will have ceased by 6pm. So the only rail option would be Thameslink from St Pancras to London Bridge, then South Eastern trains to Waterloo East, then walk down into Waterloo main station, then the walk down the street to the hotel.
I wouldn't worry too much about the weather Jules. It's not going to be that bad, just a few showers. Hopefully you'll miss the rain. The heavy showers should pass by your arrival time according to forecast. It's still mild for the time of year.
I wish you the best of luck with transport. Once you're in town you'll have a better idea of how usable the buses are. I haven't been on any public transport but I've seen pictures of busy bus stops.
According to the Evening Standard, a record 1 million journeys were made on the Elizabeth Line on Monday. Lime Bike rental was up 58% Monday morning. Footfall in central London was down 16%, 34% in Canary Wharf, the business district.
Is it worth looking at Uber or Bolt?
I don't know anything about Bolt. Uber is certainly an option. It will be expensive because they charge according to demand.
Adding some current personal experience on the situation- for those planning to get around on the bus, expect a LOT more traffic than usual and if you’re getting on in central London expect many buses may be full and won’t stop to let people on if no one is getting off. Good luck to all those visiting London this week!
As of 0845 today the only tube trains running are-
Metropolitan - North of Harrow on the Hill;
Central- West of White City
Northern- the Northern end of the line only beyond Golders Green and East Finchley, no central London service running today
If I was taking a bus from Kings Cross I would choose the 63 which originates there. Without luggage I would get off at Southwark Station and cut through (down The Cut) to Waterloo.
With the heavy traffic levels any "taxi" service will also be very slow.
EDITED - Later other services also started to give the best service day so far-
Hammersmith and City/Circle - Hammersmith to Edgware Road via Paddington only (note that White City on the Central, and Wood Lane on the H and C are linked stations).
District - Upminster to Whitechape
Central -Stratford to Hainault via Roding Valley, and Stratford to Epping.
Thank you so much Stuart. Can you explain what you mean by “down the cut”. A specific short cut? I see that the hotel is on the other side of the train station
Jules, The Cut is the name of the street which runs from Southwark Station to Waterloo Road. I've walked a few times from Victoria to Waterloo, so past the PI, and I enter Waterloo up the cab road (the taxi approach) on the side of the station, but if going to Southwark would probably go down Lower Marsh (another street) to The Cut.
It's all moot anyway if it's raining!
Just returned from London. A tour guide at the Victoria and Albert museum said her commute was normally 45 minutes, but it was 2 hours on Monday. Buses were running behind because of, in her words, "bumper to bumper" traffic. Uber prices are way up and they cannot guarantee an arrival time due to traffic congestion. Another person we were talking to in Hyde Park said he missed a bus connection because the first one was so far behind, and upon his return home he couldn't get on one of the buses.
Our tour bus was 45 minutes late returning to the Green Line Terminal even though we left an hour early from Burford.
use of the term "The Cut" is defined by context. The Cut in London south of the River is as described, but a real outlier.
The term, The Cut, is used throughout the country, and especially in the West Midlands and Birmingham as slang for a canal.
The derivation is because the canals were cut by navvies with spades, shovels and picks, right out of the countryside and then filled with water.
I, myself, have used the expression hundreds of times in my canal experiences, and only the once in London for this short, scenic and convenient little road.
So not going so well here at Kings Cross. When we arrived at the bus stop, we saw a 63 drive by. We noted that there would be one in 15 minutes and another in 28. They just keep adding to the time. Every other bus is coming. The app says the 63 is coming soon. We’ve now been here 55 minutes and now there are so many people, I don’t think everyone will get on. I would ask for ideas, but I don’t think there are any. Taxi line is long, and board keeps saying we will have a bus in 14 or 15 minutes
Get a taxi if you've been at a bus stop that long. You're right, if there's that gap between buses it will be a real struggle to get on, unless a few come at once.
At 2028 the GPS says that the 2010 has just departed 18 late, and that there are
3 more vehicles on approach within 5 minutes, but their drivers will need a break first. It shows there are 20 vehicles out on the route as a whole, in both directions.
There is some horrible bunching currently.
There should be 26 vehicles out (what is called the PVR) so the route is down 6 vehicles.
Digging deeper into GPS (not citymapper or TfL apps) 5 successive services turned short just after Farringdon station, then after the delayed 2010 two more services started two stops after Kings Cross, then service resumed with the 2040 running 8 late, the 2050 running 2 late, then every 10 minutes.
The delayed 2010 tracks as arriving at Southwark at 2106, 28 minutes late and was 37 late by Peckham Rye station.
Seriously, get a cab. The queue might be long but it will be moving as cabs arrive to drop people off at the station.
I’m a huge fan of public transport and using the apps but not so much on a day like today.
A cab will cost more than the bus but it will get you there which at this time on a miserable Wednesday night is worth every penny.
As I understood the situation with Uber or a taxi, they could not guarantee arrival times due to traffic congestion. Of course they would get you to your destination. Eventually.
I am very curious where the GPS info comes from that's not on the TFL app- Google maps often has GPS for buses but I do find there can be a lag and would like to know if there's a more accurate source.
CatVH - I have mentioned before that I use bustimes.org. That gives me real time data at every single bus stop for every single bus literally from Lands End to John O'Groats, so you can get huge advance notice of any issues.
It even tells me the registration of the vehicle, it's type and normally a photograph of the bus.
There is a vast amount of data. It is what is used by the Traffic Commissioners to monitor operations and is the brains of the ticket machines, which tell the driver to the second if they are early or late.
It is available for months afterwards.
Personally I have traced missing buses round the country many times that way, as long as I can get wifi, as I don't have (can't afford) a smart phone.
I have been analysing what happened tonight. The inbound buses terminate at York Way, then run empty on layover round the back of the railway land and re-enter service on Pancras Road. Those buses not turned tonight by control at Farringdon got to York Road, but were then told,.one assumes by control, to turn right at the Hub PI KC, back to the Old Scala cinema to re-enter service just after KC. Very few went round the back.
I used this this data source a few weeks ago for a forum member going from Keswick to Penrith. The data feed showed me the bus was delayed in roadworks on its previous journey to Workington. So I told her in real time to catch the bus 30 minutes earlier (also delayed) so as to not miss a train to the Cotswolds.
The irony is I had been tracking Jules' train since 7am today for any issues.
I know it got to KC 4 minutes 45 seconds late.
But not watching the buses.
Had the original advice been followed to use the train from St Pancras via London Bridge for the same price as a tube fare using contactless she would have left St P at 1930 on an 8 or 12 car train, arrived at London Bridge on Platform 4, switched to 8 or 9, and reached Waterloo East at 1949, 1953 or 1959 depending how fast the change was made, so have been in the hotel over an hour sooner.
Thanks for bustimes.org Stuart.
Here's a link to a map around Kings Cross with all the buses on it. I like it.
https://bustimes.org/map#14.94/51.5291/-0.13231
I like FlightRadar24 too. Sometimes when it's quiet in the morning I like to look at FlightRadar24 as I hear the planes lining up for Heathrow approach. They're at about 4-6000' making a big turn for final when they pass me.
Folks may have heard of stories and rumours that now the Elizabeth Line is going on strike.
Nothing has been formally announced in the dispute about closing Elizabeth Line ticket offices, and if that strike is announced the Union will have to give 14 days notice before they can down tools.
So this Tube action will be over before any Elizabeth Line strike could happen.
Eddie Dempsey, leader of the RMT railway union, covered the Elizabeth Line dispute in an interview I watched yesterday. It's with PoliticsJoe, a left leaning Youtube channel, so it's a bit of a soft soap, but fine if you're interested enough to hear the RMT's position.
Thanks, Stuart- I use bustimes.org for timetables but I didn't realise they had GPS data as well- very helpful as often the Google maps GPS is not accurate. We've had a few times where we are waiting for a bus in a remote area and the Google maps GPS shows the bus as arriving and then having departed without us seeing any bus, only for the bus to show up a little while later while we were somewhat anxiously try to figure out what to do next.
Gerry, I love flight radar, too! Where we live we get all the aircraft that are in holding patterns over Heathrow passing over us in the morning, and flights taking off in the afternoon/evening. Very interesting to see all the patterns of different destinations/origins at different times of day. For anyone who enjoys plane spotting, I recommend sitting outside with a pint at the Green Man near Hatton Cross where you can almost touch the planes as they land into Heathrow.
Just curious but where does the public place most of the blame for this? The mayor provided £30 million to the union just 9 months ago. I'm guessing he doesn't want to be a human ATM again.
Greg, This member of the public at least squarely blames the union concerned for unrealistic demands, not least for a 32 hour working week.
There is also a background that TfL went technically bankrupt during the pandemic and were bailed out by several loans from central government. As I understand it those loans are still being paid off, but they had various conditions on how TfL was to be run and funded through the fare box. So what the Mayor can or cannot do very probably has restrictions. It may or may not be true (and your guess is as good as mine) that to meet the union claims would wipe out the entire annual operating profit. That affects investment in new trains or station improvements, as well as inhibiting loan repayments.
This strays the thread to politics, where we are rightly not allowed to go.
isn31c, thank you. I would hope some type of contract would be signed for 2 or more years, so Londoners don't need to go through this again anytime soon.
I'd rather that we stick to the situation on the ground than venturing into blame and politics, if we possibly can.
The mayor provided £30 million to the union just 9 months ago
I don't really want to get into a big political discussion either, but it's probably worth commenting on this before we move on Greg.
Just to be clear, the Mayor didn't "provide £30 million to the union". TfL [Transport for London, London's publicly-owned transport organisation] was provided funding by City Hall in order to settle a labour dispute. This dispute was being negotiated by the The RMT, who successfully secured the deal on behalf of their members. That's how industrial relations work. It's not about the union, it's about the members and their pay and conditions.
I’m curious about how it works. Would there not be an agreement with a term of several years? It seems there have been loads of recent tube strikes or threatened strikes. Just thinking in the recent Air Canada dispute, it’s a four year agreement. The last one was a ten year agreement. Are there so many different unionized departments that strikes happen so often.
I hope this isn’t seen as political. It’s not intended to be, I’m just interested in how it works, not what terms are in dispute or who is to blame. Procedures vary from country to country.
There hasn't been any offers of deals that would satisfy pay and conditions over such a long period. The members' pay and conditions are constantly under fire. To be locked in to something for such a period and give up their rights to bargaining for their future and the future of a staffed railway, would be a mistake. To my mind anyway. I don't pretend to be unbiased, so make of my opinion what you will.
Wanted to follow up, but my hotel has horrible wifi. Now on a train. We did get to the hotel after about 1.5 hour wait for a bus. Was about to switch to taxi line, per Gerry, and the wait time switched to 1 minute, where it sat for 15 before we finally got the bus. We had planned the 11th to be a walking day, which went well.
Just want to express my appreciation for all the great help from you British folk. You are awesome! I do think, for the most part, we’ve met very kind people all over Europe. However, I am actually shocked at how nice people are in England. York, North York Moors and even London, unbelievably nice. When we visit museums, churches, restaurants, people are glad to see us and almost overly helpful, even at the train station today, super nice!
That is a long time Jules. You must have been tired and fed up after that. I hope you were able to find some enjoyment in London over the adversity.
