London Underground drivers represented by the RMT began a 24-hour walkout at midday on Tuesday, the first of six planned strikes in a dispute that has divided the network’s two biggest unions and left Transport for London defending a working-pattern reform it insists is voluntary.
The stoppage, which is scheduled to end at 11:59 on Wednesday, has forced the suspension of the Circle line in full and the Piccadilly line almost in its entirety, with drone images showing trains lined up at the Cockfosters depot in north London. TfL confirmed that only half of its passenger services were running by early afternoon, although some lines — notably the Victoria, Jubilee, Bakerloo and Metropolitan — performed more strongly than expected.
Why a voluntary reform has triggered an involuntary walkout
At the centre of the row is a proposal to move Tube drivers onto a compressed four-day working week. TfL argues the arrangement would offer train operators an additional day off and align the Underground with other train operating companies at no additional cost. Critically, the transport authority stresses that uptake would be optional, with drivers free to retain a five-day pattern if they prefer.
The RMT disagrees. Jared Wood, speaking from a picket line alongside striking workers, said there was “absolute unanimity” within the union that the plans must be resisted. While the four-day week has dominated public attention, Wood indicated the dispute also encompasses shift lengths and changes to annual leave entitlements, and acknowledged “a lot of bad feeling” now exists between drivers and London Underground management.
That position is not shared by Aslef, which represents a significant share of Tube drivers and whose members have accepted the deal. An Aslef spokesperson said the union was “surprised” by the RMT’s decision to strike, describing the offer as giving drivers “an extra 35 days off every year” in exchange for “fairly minor changes to working conditions”, including a move from paper to electronic duty booking. The spokesperson added pointedly that it would be “the first strike in the history of the trade union movement designed to stop people having a shorter working week and more time off.”
That Aslef members are continuing to work is the reason disruption on Tuesday, while substantial, fell short of the near-total shutdown seen during the September 2024 action.
What commuters encountered across the network
For passengers, the practical picture was one of unpredictability rather than paralysis. Transport correspondent Tom Edwards, reporting from Covent Garden, described station shutters opening and closing within minutes of one another, with boards showing severe delays across the Bakerloo, District and Victoria lines and part-suspensions on the Hammersmith & City and Piccadilly. Separate minor delays on the Windrush line were attributed to a signal failure rather than industrial action.
At Euston, platforms filled rapidly during the afternoon rush, with trains arriving so full that some would-be passengers abandoned the attempt and walked. At King’s Cross, the closure of the Piccadilly line caught travellers off guard. “Now I have no idea where I’m going,” said one passenger, South, who had been trying to reach his sister at Hyde Park Corner. “TfL could have done a better job keeping people informed.”
Use of the Underground was markedly down, with Oyster taps running 13 per cent below expected levels by 14:00. Demand for vehicles held broadly steady, while cycle hire jumped by 14 per cent — a modest but telling indicator of how Londoners are substituting away from the network. TfL urged passengers to complete Tube journeys by 20:00 on Tuesday, and warned that services on Wednesday would not begin until 07:30. A second strike is scheduled for Thursday.
Reactions from those visiting the capital varied. Anna, a tourist from Toronto, told BBC Radio London that she and her husband had spent the day in museums and would work out later how to return to their accommodation. If there was no fixed schedule to keep, she said, the disruption was “not a problem”. Greg, visiting from Plymouth, described the strike as “slightly inconvenient”, noting that his group, unaware of the action until the previous day, now faced a choice between walking and catching a bus to Paddington.
The commercial cost and the search for a settlement
Beyond the commute, the dispute is exacting a price on businesses that depend on Underground footfall. Simon Williams, chief executive of Camden’s Zodiac Bar, described the action as “a nail in the coffin for businesses like ours”, warning that venues reliant on a mix of destination customers and passing commuter trade face a near-total evaporation of demand on strike nights. “Many of our customers use the London Underground to visit our venue,” he said, “and we also partly rely on commuter footfall, which will be nonexistent on strike nights as we have experienced previously.”
TfL has apologised for the disruption and struck a conciliatory tone publicly, even as it braces for further action. Nick Dent, the Underground’s director of customer operations, told BBC Radio London: “I understand the frustration and I do apologise sincerely for that.” He said the authority’s proposals followed “very extensive engagement” with unions and that most of the concerns raised by the RMT “can and will be addressed”. While TfL is “planning on the basis” that Thursday’s strike will proceed, Dent said it was “not too late” for the RMT to suspend further action, and expressed confidence that a settlement would ultimately be reached.
For now, the two sides remain some distance apart. Wood’s insistence that TfL must bring forward revised proposals sits awkwardly against the transport authority’s public position that its offer already represents a reasonable accommodation — one that a sister union has been willing to accept. With five further strike days still pencilled in across the spring and early summer, the question is whether the RMT’s negotiators can secure enough to justify calling off a campaign it has only just begun.
