This week’s Tube strikes by RMT members have been the union’s least effective walkouts on the London Underground for years, data has revealed.
Official figures show that a normal service continued on more than half of scheduled trains across all London Underground lines on Tuesday.
Sources within the transport authority said they could not remember any previous RMT strikes in which over half of the planned services continued to operate.
Members of the RMT on the picket line on Tuesday
PA
While only around 60% of Tube drivers reported for work, passengers have been able to get around the city much easier than during the strikes in September last year.
It was thought that the strike action could result in most trains being cancelled – but some of these busiest underground lines, such as the Bakerloo, Victoria and Northern lines, have managed to operate at around two-thirds of their normal service, resulting in only minor delays.
In comparison, every single line across the network was suspended during the strike between September 8 and 11, with only the Northern line able to open fully on September 9 and parts of four others running for brief periods.
As a result, Londoners were forced to either work from home or pack into Elizabeth line or London Overground trains, while Lime and Forest experienced a huge surge in people travelling on their rental e-bikes.
Passengers faced four days of disruption on the Tube across the week
PA
This walkout’s failure to bring the capital to a standstill suggests that the RMT union may be losing its power, with Thomas Turrell, the Conservatives’ City Hall transport spokesman, describing the data as a “bitter disappointment to the union barons who sought to paralyse London”.
Mr Turrell said: “The Conservatives created legislation to ensure this level of service as a legal minimum during strikes, which Labour promptly dropped – and as such, any strike which is more damaging to London than the one we have seen this week will be a blatant political choice by authorities.”
“Whilst it is a relief that the full damage of this strike did not come to pass, we must not ignore the fact that these strikes come only because the unions think that our weak Labour Mayor will capitulate to them.”
An RMT spokesman told The Standard: “Our strike is solid and reflects our growing presence in the driver grade in London Underground. TfL need to focus on revising the offer our members have overwhelmingly rejected to avert further disruption in the coming months.”
But why have the latest series of Tube strikes failed to make so much of an impact? Here are five reasons why.
RMT members are striking – but Aslef aren’t
Only around half of London’s 3,300 Tube drivers are members of the RMT.
This figure has declined significantly in recent years, with many either giving up union membership or joining rival union Aslef.
Aslef has already agreed to a 35-hour week, which is being offered to all drivers on a voluntary basis, while the RMT wants drivers’ working hours cut to 32 per week with no reduction in pay.
Only train drivers have walked out
In September, all 10,000 of the RMT’s members walked out – but this week, it is only the drivers who aren’t working.
On that occasion, all staff were locked into a dispute over pay and working conditions. This included drivers, station staff and service controllers.
Service controllers play a similar role to that of an air traffic controller – regulating train movements, communicating with staff and customers during disruptions, as well as running signalling systems.
Station staff continued to work while drivers went on strike
TfL
Their absence in September was the most important factor in determining whether lines could operate or not.
Shortly after those strikes, the pay dispute was resolved when the RMT accepted a 3.4% pay offer in November.
However, the specific issues surrounding Tube driver working hours and conditions were not addressed – hence the strikes this week.
Only Tube lines have been affected by the action this week.
During the strike action in September, DLR workers also walked out over concerns surrounding pay and conditions, putting an even larger strain on the Elizabeth line in East and South East London.
On this occasion, the Elizabeth line, the DLR, London Overground services and National Rail trains have all been operating a good service, providing a viable alternative for many passengers.
The Elizabeth line has been running as normal
PA
Around 33% more people than normal have used the Elizabeth Line this week, taking on many additional commuters as it passes through the middle of the capital – easing the issues caused by the part-suspension of the Central Line across its middle stretch between White City and Liverpool Street.
Overground use has also risen significantly, up 18%.
Passenger numbers in general have been lower since the pandemic, with flexible working allowing people to stay home when necessary, especially on Fridays.
Throughout the strike action, Londoners have heeded TfL’s warnings about significant disruption. Across the whole week, TfL said that customer journeys were 12% down on normal across the whole network.
Officials confirmed a 13% drop in the number of contactless cards tapping in on Tuesday compared with the same day last year.
This equates to around half a million fewer travellers, a decrease from 3.9 million tap-ins last year to 3.4 million earlier this week.
The timing of the strikes has also helped – in the era of flexible working, people have been able to leave the office early to beat the worst of the rush or avoid the strikes altogether.
During the strike action in September, which ran all day as opposed to midday to midday, both the morning and evening rush hours were severely impacted, which has not been the case this time around.
TfL Director Nick Dent said that, despite the disruption, it is estimated that 88% of journeys in London still took place on Thursday compared to a normal day using all different modes of public transport.
Many commuters into London have switched to cycling, with TfL’s bike hire scheme up 28%.
E-bike firms saw an increase in users
Getty
Operators like Lime, Forest and Voi have also seen a huge surge in riders, and helped by the beautiful weather, many with a shorter commute have been walking into the city.
It follows a similar pattern seen during last September’s strikes, where one in five Londoners cycled during the strike, according to a YouGov survey.
There has also been a 6% increase in journeys taken by bus.
