Transport for London has warned passengers to check before they travel as planned RMT Tube strike action on 2 and 4 June threatens to disrupt parts of the Underground. The most severe impact is expected on the Circle line, the Piccadilly line, the Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate, and the Central line between White City and Liverpool Street, where no service is expected if the walkout goes ahead.
The warning lands now because the dates are days away, and TfL is telling customers to finish journeys by 21:00 on strike days, with only limited service before 06:30. Normal service is still expected on Monday 1 June, Wednesday 3 June and Friday 5 June, but the two strike days are likely to leave many commuters facing longer and less predictable trips.
TfL said most Tube lines should still run some kind of service, and it hopes to deliver around half of normal services again after running roughly that level in the last strike period in April. On the final day of that action, the network reached 94 per cent of normal demand, a sign that London’s Tube can recover quickly once the stoppages end, even if the disruption during the strike itself is sharp.
Claire Mann said TfL was disappointed that the RMT had chosen to continue with industrial action over proposals for drivers to work a four-day working pattern. She said the plan is completely voluntary, designed to improve work-life balance, and that drivers who do not want the new arrangement can stay on a five-day working pattern. Mann also said a significant number of drivers want TfL to push ahead with a pilot on the Bakerloo line.
That is where the argument now sits: TfL says the main concerns can still be settled through more detailed discussions with the union and other trade unions, while the RMT is pressing ahead with disruptive action. There is still an opportunity for the union to call off the strike before 2 June, but for now TfL is treating the stoppages as real and telling passengers to plan ahead using London’s official travel app, TfL Go, or the TfL website.
