Key Points
- RMT union launches strike shutting down most Tube services from Monday.
- TfL warns of “little to no service” across London Underground until Friday.
- Dispute centres on 3.4% pay offer and demand for a 32-hour week.
- Strike projected to cost economy more than £230 million.
ISLAMABAD: Millions of Londoners faced commuter chaos on Monday as nearly 10,000 Underground staff began a five-day strike, crippling Tube services and forcing commuters onto buses, taxis, and the Elizabeth Line in one of the city’s most disruptive walkouts in years.
“Transport for London warned in a public statement that services would be ‘severely reduced, with little to no operation’ across the Underground through Thursday before resuming Friday morning. The Docklands Light Railway will also be closed on Tuesday and Thursday. Resultantly, Overground and bus services were overcrowded from the early morning rush hour.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) rejected a 3.4 per cent pay rise offered by TfL, instead pressing for a shorter 32-hour working week and safeguards against fatigue from shift work. According to Reuters, The Financial Times, and The Guardian, the stoppage owing to the strike by drivers, signalers, and maintenance staff is expected to cost London’s economy over £230 million. A massive strike has already led to postponements of major concerts by Coldplay and Post Malone.
The strike underscores broader unrest across Britain’s public sector, where workers have staged a wave of industrial action over pay, hours, and conditions amid high living costs and inflationary pressures. Business groups warned of lost productivity, while unions insisted that the disruption reflected long-standing grievances over working conditions. TfL’s journey-planning website crashed under heavy use on Monday morning, leaving commuters struggling to reroute their journeys.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government faces renewed pressure to broker a settlement, with opposition politicians warning that repeated stoppages risk undermining London’s international competitiveness. For the capital’s commuters, however, the immediate impact was gridlock and overcrowding as the strike entered its first day.
