Traffic & Transport
Hopes grow that London Underground strikes could be called off | London Underground
Hopes have been raised that next week’s strikes by London Underground drivers could yet be averted, after sources said the RMT union had put out feelers for talks.
The RMT members, almost half of London’s tube drivers, are due to strike for two 24-hour periods from midday on Tuesday and Thursday, closing some lines entirely and bringing widespread travel disruption to the capital until the weekend.
The action follows a similar wave of strikes in April, with more planned for June in the dispute over a planned four-day week working pattern.
No talks have yet taken place and with neither Transport for London (TfL) nor the union apparently willing to alter course, further strikes had appeared inevitable. TfL has warned passengers that many services will not operate next week.
However, a source close to the dispute said that union representatives had now put out feelers to seek a deal, giving TfL a “window of opportunity” to prevent further strikes.
They said that tube drivers were prepared for a long strike campaign of disruption, adding: “It is clear TfL needs to move from its uncompromising position and make some new proposals that do not impose new working conditions that tube drivers will not accept. An opportunity exists for the employer to do the right thing by Londoners and make a reasonable offer to the union.”
With the strike still scheduled to take place, TfL has urged customers to plan ahead and expect significant disruption, with early closures of services on Tuesday and Thursday and late starts on Wednesday and Friday.
No trains at all will run on the Circle line, Piccadilly line, and in zone 1 on the Metropolitan line and the Central line.
However, TfL stressed that Londoners and visitors would still be able to travel around the city, with other rail lines and transport modes running, and even some tube trains during the two 24-hour strike periods.
The Elizabeth line, London Overground and DLR will run as normal, as well as buses, although increased demand and traffic is likely to slow some services.
Data from the last strikes in April showed that people continued to travel, with patronage across the entire TfL network down only 13-14% overall on most strike days, and approaching normal levels on the Friday.
The bike hire company Lime reported about 20% more trips than average on strike days, while the rival Forest said rush hour hires were up between 35% and 50%.
Tap-ins to the tube were down between 42% and 48% from Tuesday to Thursday but only 31% on Friday, when travel on TfL services was down 6% overall. There is far less commuting on Fridays now but the figures suggest Londoners returned to the tube in the evening for leisure despite some disruption.
TfL said it was not too late for the RMT to withdraw its planned strike action and said the objections the union had raised would be resolved with further, more detailed work. The Aslef union, which represents a slight majority of London Underground drivers, has backed the TfL proposals for a four-day week.
Claire Mann, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “It is disappointing that the RMT is planning this strike action despite our best efforts to resolve this dispute. We have been clear that our proposals for a four-day week are designed to improve work-life balance and are entirely voluntary.
“A significant number of drivers have indicated that they want us to progress plans for the pilot of this new working pattern on the Bakerloo line, and it would deliver benefits both for our colleagues and our customers. We urge the RMT to work with us so we can resolve this dispute. In the meantime, we are asking customers to check before they travel and allow plenty of extra time for their journeys.”
The RMT union declined to comment.
Traffic & Transport
Rail passengers face second day of disruption across north-west England | Rail transport
Rail passengers are facing a second day of travel disruption across parts of north-west England, after a power failure hit the signalling centre controlling the railway in the region.
The power failure, which occurred shortly before 2pm on Thursday, triggered widespread cancellations and delays to services including CrossCountry and London Northwestern Railway.
Operators whose services continued to be affected on Friday morning were Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE) and Transport for Wales.
National Rail said this morning that although trains are now able to operate, there could be delays until noon as several trains and crew are in the wrong locations for the start of service today.
“This means that some trains are still expected to be affected this morning. Trains across the Greater Manchester area and north-west of England may still be cancelled in full or revised to only run for part of their normal journey until service is able to fully recover,” it said.
Northern Rail has advised passengers not to travel before 10am today. TPE has told its passengers should prepare for disruption before midday today, with delays and cancellations to be expected.
Greater Manchester, the Midlands and north-west England were hit the hardest by the rail disruption, with thousands of passengers unable to complete their journeys.
The facility in Manchester that experienced the outage was one of 12 operating centres designed to eventually manage the entire British rail network, Network Rail said when it opened in 2014.
A wartime bomb was also discovered near the railway between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent, which deepened disruption on Thursday, National Rail said.
Chris Wright, Network Rail’s north-west route director, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience after yesterday’s power outage and the disruption it caused across the north-west.
“Our engineers worked through the night to restore signalling systems and recover the railway, and I’m pleased that most services are now running this morning.
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“While some passengers may still experience disruption, we’re continuing to work closely with train operators to return services to normal as quickly as possible. Anyone planning to travel this morning should continue to check before they travel for the latest information.”
Andy Bowes-Roden, deputy editor at Modern Railways magazine, told BBC Radio 5 Live there would be “quite a lot of disruption this morning easing throughout the day”.
“Hopefully by rush hour the service will be back to normal, but it won’t be until tomorrow morning that this will be sorted,” he said. “As rail passengers, we are lucky. We have protections and the railways are obliged to get us where they promise to get us. But there will be an awful lot of refunds.”
Traffic & Transport
Brits in Majorca face traffic chaos on August 12 – mopeds and cars restrictions in place
Motor restrictions will be in place in just a few days on the holiday island loved by Brits.
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Traffic & Transport
Trains stop across north-west England after power cut hits signalling centre | Rail transport
Trains across parts of north-west England have ground to a halt after a power failure hit the signalling centre controlling the railway in the region.
Passengers awaiting Northern and TransPennine trains have been advised not to travel, with widespread cancellations and other services delayed by more than an hour already.
The National Rail enquiries website warned passengers of major disruption after the incident on Thursday afternoon, with trains in the Greater Manchester area, the Midlands and the north-west of England most affected.
A spokesperson said: “This is expected to cause major disruption until the end of the day. If you’re travelling with Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern, Northern, TransPennine Express, or Transport for Wales in the affected area your train may be cancelled, delayed, or revised.
“Please allow extra time to make your journey this afternoon as you may need to use an alternative route or change trains part-way through to reach your destination.”
Trains were stopped after a power cut just before 2pm in the Greater Manchester area where the Manchester Rail Operating Centre is located. An emergency generator did not start in time to maintain signalling operations.
Although power has been restored, safety protocols required a controlled restart of the systems at the centre. Trains are beginning to run but Network Rail said disruption would continue to affect any services running through the region.
Chris Wright, the north-west route director at National Rail, said: “We’re sorry to passengers impacted by a power issues in Manchester which is causing significant delays to trains through the city. While some services are now running major disruption is expected for the rest of the day. I’d urge anyone planning to travel to check National Rail enquiries for the latest information.”
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Passengers travelling within Greater Manchester have been told they can use any Bee Network bus or Metrolink service at no extra cost.
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