Is there a Tube strike this week? How the rail strikes in May and June affect the London Underground and TfL
Rail passengers are set to face further disruption this week with both the RMT and drivers’ union Aslef launching fresh strike action.
Walkouts have become a regular occurrence on Britain’s railways as the bitter pay disputes that have been running since last summer continue.
When are the national rail strikes?
Members of Aslef have announced plans to strike on Wednesday 31 May and Saturday 3 June – the day Manchester City and Manchester United meet at Wembley for the FA Cup final.
The RMT strike will be the day before the final, on Friday 2 June, and will involve 20,000 catering, station staff and train managers working for 14 companies, affecting train services throughout the country.
How will London be affected by the strikes?
The following rail operators will be affected by the strike action, including several which operate in and around London:
- Avanti West Coast
- c2c (2 June only)
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Great Northern
- Great Western Railway
- Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
- Heathrow Express
- LNER
- London Northwestern Railway
- Northern
- South Western Railway
- Southeastern
- Southern
- Thameslink
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Railway
The London Underground, London Overground and Elizabeth Line are expected to operate as normal, but some services could be busier than usual.
National Rail said: “Train companies will be busy assessing how this will affect their ability to provide services and so full details about the level of service each train operating company will be able to run are not yet known for all days.
“However, passengers are warned to expect significant disruption as it is likely to result in little or no services across large areas of the network. Services are also likely to be disrupted and start later on the day immediately following a strike day.”
For journeys on 31 May, you can check your journey using the National Rail journey planner. For the other strike dates, the journey planner will be updated closer to the time.
If you have a ticket that is affected by the strike you will be able to use your ticket on an alternative day, or receive a fee-free refund.
- Tickets for Friday 12 May or Saturday 13 May can be used on Thursday 11 May or up to and including Tuesday 16 May.
- Tickets for Wednesday 31 May can be used on Tuesday 30 May or up to and including Monday 5 June.
- Tickets for Friday 2 June or Saturday 3 June can be used on Thursday 1 June or up to and including Tuesday 6 June.
Will there be more Tube strikes?
RMT members who work on the London Underground are in dispute with TfL over jobs, cuts, and attacks on pensions and working conditions.
The union has extended its mandate for strike action on the London Underground for six months after the result of its ballot last week, with 96 per cent of respondents choosing to continue walkouts.
This means the RMT is likely to announce dates for fresh Tube strikes in the near future.
RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “I congratulate every single one of our London Underground members for giving us continued industrial leverage at the negotiating table.
“TfL cannot continue to simply wish this dispute away and the government which has drastically cut the funding to London transport budgets, shares a great deal of responsibility for this continuing impasse.
“London Underground workers want a negotiated settlement and are quite prepared to take more strike action over the next six months to make that a reality.”
