London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

London Underground strikes threaten to disrupt festive season

London Underground strikes threaten to disrupt festive season

Five lines affected from Friday over dispute between RMT and Transport for London over night tube service

A 24-hour tube strike planned for Friday, the first of two days and eight nights of scheduled strike action, threatens to bring disruption to London in the run up to Christmas.

The five lines due to be affected are the Victoria, Central, Northern, Jubilee, and Piccadilly lines as RMT workers are set to strike from 04.30 on Friday.

The dispute is over night shifts drivers are required to work as the night tube service is reintroduced for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Transport for London (TfL) said the strike would result in “little or no service in places” with the Waterloo and City line, which uses Central line drivers, also likely to be hit.

The RMT said the work rosters being imposed on tube drivers threatened work-life balance. TfL said the changes have been agreed by other unions and would result in drivers working about four night shift weekends a year.

If it goes ahead, the strike will also affect the restart of the night tube as Victoria and Central line. Drivers have been told not to work from 8.30pm Saturday until 4.30am Sunday.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the strike was about “the ripping apart of popular and family friendly agreements that helped make the original night tube such a success”.

“Instead the company want to cut costs and lump all drivers into a pool where they can be kicked from pillar to post at the behest of the management.”

Despite talks at Acas and direct talks, it was clear London Underground bosses “have no interest whatsoever in the well being of their staff or the service to passengers”, he added.

“This strike action, and it’s serious consequences in the run up to Christmas, was avoidable if the tube management hadn’t axed dedicated night tube staff and perfectly workable arrangements in order to cut staffing numbers and costs.”

The union said it remained available for further talks even at this late stage.

Nick Dent, director of London Underground customer operations, said the RMT’s planned strike action “is needless and it will threaten London’s recovery from the pandemic, despite no job losses and more flexibility and job certainty for drivers”.

He added the transport authority was “willing to work with the RMT and review the changes after night tube services have returned. This review can only be successful if the RMT agrees to meet us for talks and withdraws its proposed action so we can all see how these changes will work in practice.”

TfL warned the planned action was likely to mean much busier services on the lines not affected by the strike (Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan) as customers seek alternative routes. Thameslink services and buses through central London are also expected to be busier than normal.

Planned strike action


04:30 26 November – 04:29 27 November Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria.

20:30 27 November – 04:29 28 November Central and Victoria.

20:30 3 December – 04:29 4 December Central and Victoria.

20:30 4 December – 04:29 5 December Central and Victoria.

20:30 10 December – 04:29 11 December Central and Victoria.

20:30 11 December – 04:29 12 December Central and Victoria.

20:30 17 December – 04:29 18 December Central and Victoria.

04:30 18 December – 04:29 19 December Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×