Tube Strikes Unleash “Pure Carnage” on London as Drivers on £72K a Year Demand More Money, a Four-Day Week and 75% Off All Rail Travel

London is facing “pure carnage” today as striking Tube drivers on £72,000 a year bring the capital to a standstill demanding more money, a four-day week and 75% discounts on train journeys nationwide. The Mail has more.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union today began their five-day strike, leaving commuters facing days of travel mayhem with little or no service on all of the Tube as different parts of the union walk out on different days. 

Hard-pressed Brits faced scenes of chaos this morning as the London Underground network was paralysed, bus drivers turned away passengers and motorists and cyclists faced crippling lane closures.

The Elizabeth Line and the Overground – the only two lines running as normal – have been completely overwhelmed, with queues forming out of the station exits.

Images throughout London this morning show closed off entrances to stations and mammoth queues at bus stops as millions of British workers look to fight tooth and nail to make their way into the city.

The strike has been exacerbated by lane closures, with commuters stuck in gridlocks through parts of central London including on roads around Kings Cross St Pancras – ironically where drivers are on the picket line.

Many looking for alternative ways to work have been unable to order Ubers – or face surged pricing – while hire bikes have been snapped up in seconds.

As hard-working Londoners were unable to get across the capital, Labour’s Liverpool Riverside MP Kim Johnson said she stood in “solidarity” with the RMT, adding: “No worker should be put at risk by fatigue and extreme shift rotations – power in a union, always!”

Striking Tube workers are demanding a boost to their pay packets despite already being on £72,000 per year – as well as a reduction from a 35 hour working week to a four-day, 32-hour system.

They are also asking for a 75% discount on all rail travel, despite already receiving benefits which entitle their loved ones to free travel across the entire London public transport system.

It is believed any moves to meet the RMT’s demands would cost around £200million – and that is before the huge discount on rail travel is even considered.

TfL, which has since tabled a 3.4% pay rise offer to the union’s members, said reducing working hours would be “simply unaffordable” – adding today that it was “bitterly disappointed” with the RMT’s decision.

Worth reading in full.