The threat of a strike closing major UK airports has passed, but dates have been set for a series of 24-hour walkouts on on the London Underground over plans to cut jobs. Some employees will walkout for 24 hours at 5 p.m. London time on 6 September, 3 October, 2 November and 28 November. Other employees, including drivers, will walkout for 24 hours beginning at 9 p.m. on the same dates. Let's hope the sides talk and reach an agreement. Meanwhile, anyone who will be in London on one of those dates may want to come up with a plan for the day that doesn't involve the Tube or, frankly, other forms of London transport, which are likely to be rather busy. More <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11083153"> at the BBC</a>. (Hmm. Links aren't working, and neither are em spaces.)
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15602 posts
Thank you for the posting.
Posted by
San Francisco, CA, USA
97 posts
Lucky me, one of those dates is one of my two days in London! Good thing I like to walk.
Posted by
Huntington Beach CA
1116 posts
Thanks for the heads up. I'm so glad I will be in London mid October then!
Posted by
OP
NC, United States
970 posts
I'll be there for the October 3 strike, if it isn't called off. I'm thinking it might be a good day for a day trip out of London, if my hotel is within walking distance of a station. (Cabs might be at a premium.) People on tight budgets who are planning on using the Piccadilly Line to and from Heathrow need to pay special attention to this strike threat. It's worth noting that, if they happen, the strikes will begin at 5pm and continue for 24 hours. So, the October 3 strike would begin at 5pm on a Sunday evening and continue until 5pm on Monday. The BBC runs a blog about London transport with good info about this. Posting links here seems to be broken, so just Google for "BBC London Transport Blog". The site should be the first returned, called "Mind The Gap". A similar strike occurred last year. Management was able to keep some trains running, but apparently the overall London transportation scene was miserable.
Posted by
Helena, MT
6 posts
we arrive into Heathrow on the morning of September 8th, and planned to take the tube into central London. Would the strike still be an issue? I assume workers would be back on the job the evening of the 7th, so hopeflly everyting would be back to normal?
Posted by
OP
NC, United States
970 posts
Gene, from the BBC's piece I cited above: "Maintenance and engineering staff will walk out for 24 hours at 1700 on 6 September, 3 October, 2 November and 28 November. Other workers, including Tube drivers, signallers and station staff, will strike for 24 hours from 2100 on the same dates." So, looks like maintenance and engineering will be back at work at 1700 on the 7th, and drivers, etc., will be back at work at 2100 on the 7th. You should be fine.