London commuters were on Wednesday facing another day of chaos as disruption continued across the Tube network after Tuesday’s strike.
Just after 6am the entire network was suspended with only the London Overground operating a reduced service.
By 10.30am all lines were operating but most had delays. Services were “severely disrupted” across Wednesday morning – meaning fewer services and packed trains.
As of 4pm, five out of 11 London Underground lines were continuing to run a reduced service.
The Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Northern lines had “severe” or “minor” delays.
Around 19 stations, including Nine Elms, Tottenham Hale, Hendon Central and Lambeth North, were shut earlier “while the service recovered from strike action by the RMT”.
Only East Acton remained part-closed due to the unavailability of station staff to help with step-free access.
Londoners expressed their frustration on social media as they turned up to Tube stations to find the gates locked for the second day running.
One commuter arriving at Archway station posted a picture of the locked gates at 6.10am, adding in a sarcastic note: “ I’m so glad the tube strike is over and my commute was unaffected.
“Thanks #TFL you are really supporting hard working Londoners.”
Another at a shut Clapham South station complained: “TfL well done, strike’s over and apparently this station isn’t opening until an as yet unspecified time.
“No signs, no updates, no nothing. People only have to work, no biggie.”
Twelve Underground stations, most on the Central line, remained closed at 8am including Paddington and Regents Park.
TfL said the Victoria line was running a good service but commuters at Tottenham Hale reported that station being closed at 6.30am.
Others in Hillingdon, which lies on both the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines, claimed that trains were running through whilst people were locked out of the station.
Passengers were advised to delay their journeys until later in the day.
The disruption was caused by a number of factors, including the placement of trains and the number of staff available in the morning – with some on overlapping night shifts not having been able to start overnight.
A near total shutdown is expected again on Thursday, the second day of the RMT’s two days of action over threats to pensions and the axing of up to 600 station staff posts to save TfL cash.
TfL said: “Further disruption is expected all day on Thursday March 3, when customers are advised to work from home if they can, and into the morning of Friday March 4, when customers should avoid early morning journeys.”
No further strikes have been announced by the RMT but a separate action over the rotas used to staff the Night Tube remains ongoing and is expected to continue reducing the number of trains on the Victoria and Central lines overnight on Friday and Saturday nights until June.
On Tuesday, TfL was able to run shuttle services at the end of some lines where the stations are above ground – on the Bakerloo, Northern, Central, Piccadilly and District lines.
However there were no trains on the Victoria, Metropolitan, Jubilee, Circle or Hammersmith and City lines in what was the worst strike since January 2017 in terms of its impact on the Underground network.
Mayor Sadiq Khan denied he was to blame and turned his fire on the RMT.
Thousands of early morning commuters were caught unaware by the RMT walk-out on Tuesday and were forced to cram onto buses as advice to work from home went unheeded.
A miserable morning, with roads heavily congested, was made worse by a near five per cent rise in Transport for London fares and a 3.8 per cent hike in national rail fares.
A Tube boss described the union as “turkeys voting for Christmas” and said RMT’s decision to call 10,000 members out on strike would worsen TfL’s already dire finances.
Many passengers vented frustration that their commute had been hampered just as they began returning to the office following the pandemic.
