London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 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
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×