tube strikes
 

Anyone have inside information.. fizzy fish??? ;) on how long these might go on for???? I'm completely stuffed this week!!!!! grrrrrrr

Re: tube strikes
 

You called?? ;)

Basically it still looks like the strike is on, at least for this week.

It starts officially at 6pm today and runs to 6pm on Thursday, but in practice will affect services from mid afternoon today through to end of Thursday.

The good news is that the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines won't be affected.

However the bad news is that it's very unlikely that there will be any services running at all on the Bakerloo, Central, Victoria, District, Circle or Hammersmith & City lines.

This is because it is Metronet staff who are striking (not TfL), and they carry out all the safety checks/maintenance, so without these being done we can't run any trains at all. This is different from an LU strike when you usually get quite a few staff coming in anyway, and there are also supervisors, etc who can operate some of the trains/stations.

Buses, etc will all be running but will be very busy and they tend to get pretty badly affected when the roads get clogged up. We're expecting this to be the biggest strike sinec 2003, so sorry but you're going to need to allow lots of extra time for journeys...

Re: tube strikes
 

Public transport in the capital is a joke. Unions have too much control and the overcrowded trains are so awful. The unions know they can hold London to ransom as the city needs the underground to get it's workers to and from the office.

Without tighter union control and a lot more investment the public transport system will end up killing London. More & more companies are moving out, more people working from home etc...

The Government should take a good look at the transport systems in Paris, Munich, Madrid etc, they are run so much better and not over crowded. Busy yes, but not uncomfortable, and they're cheaper too....


(Sorry 'Ness, but it's the main reason why I decided not to work in the City again...).

Re: tube strikes
 

But you own a bike (or two) - why use the underground????

10 mins from garage to parked (and 4 min walk) for me.

Will go up to about 20 mins while the strike is on as I will modify my hours and take Vixis too and from work :)

Anna, if I am available, feel free to add me to your list of people to shout when you need a lift :)

Re: tube strikes
 

I can't really turn up to high level customer meetings in leathers. Doesn't set the scene for a Company Director really does it ?

What if I didn't have a bike ?

.

Re: tube strikes
 

If you were the director of a courier company it would :P

Point taken tho :)

Re: tube strikes
 

On my way in (on the metropolitan, etc) they announced that it'll start at about 4pm... I hope they let us out well before then... It's a long walk to Liverpool st (took me 2 hours last time I did it). :(

Re: tube strikes
 

Fine by me - that's one less person on the tube then! ;)

seriously though, we're also arguing for more funding being essential to London's economy, but there are a lot of demands on central government funding and transport is hardly an election winner! There's some new money coming through, but it takes time to upgrade infrastructure, etc especially when you need to keep running a service in the meantime. And it isn't enough to put in the massive improvements necessary to make up for decades of underinvestment, etc etc

oh and be careful about asking for ideas from other cities - where do you think bendy buses came from? ;)

anyway on a better note, rumour in the lift is that the strike's been called off. not 100% sure yet though!

Re: tube strikes
 

Ping, i thought you worked close to Liverpool street? " hours...did you detor via a drinking establishment?

Re: tube strikes
 

I DID work in Brick Lane, but they moved us to Whitfield Street in the West End...