Staff reporter(wp/es):
Commuters were braced for the worst disruption of the year starting tomorrow ahead of strikes on the Tube and London’s busiest rail lines.
Some lines will be left without any trains at all, with travel chaos exacerbated by forecasts of widespread early morning fog across the south-east hitting those deciding to drive.
Strikes on the Piccadilly, Hammersmith and City and Circle Lines begin at 9.30pm on Tuesday but Transport for London (TfL) said disruption would start from 7pm and last all day Wednesday on the Tube lines.
Southern Rail warned of “severe and on-going” disruption as only half the usual Southern timetable will operate as drivers belong to the Aslef union join forces with RMT guards, cancelling hundreds of trains and delaying others.
City Hall Tories today launched a stinging attack on Mayor Sadiq Khan, accusing him of being “in hiding” and refusing to condemn the RMT union for its strikes on the Tube and Southern Rail.
Keith Prince, GLA Tory transport spokesman, said: “London is once again being held to ransom at one of the busiest times of the year and our ‘zero strikes’ Mayor is in hiding.
“It is about time he broke his silence and stood up to the unions taking Londoners for a ride.
“Having already failed to intervene in the Tube disputes, which look set to cause misery for Londoners over the Christmas period, he is now sitting firmly on the fence when it comes to criticising the RMT union’s Southern strikes.”
During his election campaign Mr Khan pledged: “As Mayor what I’d do is roll up my sleeves and make sure that I’m talking to everyone who runs public transport to make sure there are zero days of strikes.” He said the 35 days of strikes during Boris Johnson’s time as Mayor were a “disgrace.”
Mr Prince said he had lodged a written question at City Hall last month asking the Mayor if he would condemn the strikes but, he added, after more than two weeks the only reply received was one stating that “officers are still drafting a response.”
“It does not take two weeks to answer a simple yes or no question. The Mayor needs to stop protecting his union colleagues and start backing Londoners who elected him.
“Sadiq has already broken his ridiculous ‘no strikes’ promise... he is on track for the worst strikes record of any London Mayor.”
The Mayor’s spokesman said: "Assembly Member Prince should know that Southern services are run by the government that he supports - not by the Mayor - and they are responsible for the terrible service that commuters are currently facing.
"Sadiq inherited a total mess on industrial relations within TfL - the number of strikes more than doubled under the previous Mayor.
"Sadiq has begun the hard work of fixing this terrible legacy so that commuters don't have to suffer like they did under Boris Johnson.
"He has met and engaged with the unions which has already produced positive results - the Night Tube is finally open, and a number of disputes on the tube and buses have already been solved before they led to strikes.
“Sadiq continues to urge the unions to work constructively with TfL in order to resolve their issues rather than threaten strike action, and has offered to put a senior TfL team in charge of the Southern franchise until a permanent resolution to the problems they face can be found."
The dispute on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines is over working conditions including how long drivers spend on “toilet breaks” with TfL claiming some spend more than an hour – a row revealed by the Evening Standard last month.
On the Piccadilly line the dispute is also over working conditions with the RMT saying drivers are constantly taking the blame from angry passengers when the trains break down.
The union has pictures of three skips at the Northfields depot which are full of metal shaving from train wheels which to be re-profiled to keep them round – taking trains out of service.
There was hope of a last ditch deal to prevent the Piccadilly line strike from going ahead with talks taking place today (MON) at Acas, the conciliation service.
Southern Rail chiefs today warned commuters by loudspeaker announcements on packed trains of “severe and significant” on-going and indefinite disruption from tomorrow as train drivers belonging to the Aslef union join forces with RMT guards.
The drivers begin an indefinite ban on overtime which will throw the timetable on Southern and Gatwick Express into chaos. It common with other train companies Southern relies on overtime to run a full service.
From tomorrow and until further notice all services on the West London line, London bridge to Beckenham Junction and Brighton to Seaford services are cancelled. Other Metro services will also be reduced.
The company said on days where the two unions combined forces it would only be able to run half the usual timetable. From Tuesday of next week – 13 December – Aslef will begin the first wave of nine days of strikes.
Southern said that would halt all Southern trains and halve services on the Gatwick Express. Thameslink trains will operate but they will be even more crowded than usual.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is seeking a High Court injunction against Aslef in an effort to prevent the strikes from taking place.
In a case to be heard on Wednesday, GTR said it believes the union’s industrial action “breaches customers’ right under EU law.”
If the action is successful it will set a precedent and have massive implications for customers rights – far beyond just transport.
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