London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Rail strikes: city centres quieter as people heed advice to avoid travel

Rail strikes: city centres quieter as people heed advice to avoid travel

RMT praises ‘fantastic’ turnout at picket lines but government plays down impact of action

The first day of the biggest rail strikes in decades gave much of Great Britain a reminder of lockdown, with city centres quieter as millions avoided public transport, worked from home or took to their cars.

About 80% of services were axed during the 24-hour strike by 40,000 members of the RMT union, leaving much of northern England, Wales and Scotland without any trains. Of the few trains that ran and stations that remained open, most were quiet as passengers heeded advice to avoid travel.

A one-day London Underground strike by another 10,000 RMT members compounded difficulties for those who needed to cross the capital by closing virtually the entire tube network.

National rail services will start later in the day and with reduced schedules on Wednesday, owing to the knock-on effects of the walkout and striking staff in some overnight shifts.

Talks are set to resume between Network Rail and the RMT, as well as between the union and train operators, before two more national 24-hour walkouts planned on Thursday and Saturday.

Network Rail has ratcheted up the pressure on the RMT by giving notice that it will start the formal process to push through reforms to working practices and cut 1,800 maintenance staff, incorporating compulsory redundancies if necessary. Hopes of a breakthrough this week remain slim, after the union rejected offers worth 3% from the industry on Monday.

In a letter handed to the RMT leadership, Network Rail said it “cannot delay any longer” on plans to reform its maintenance regimes, though it would “much prefer to implement them with your agreement and cooperation”.

Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, said: “The changes will mean dumping outdated working practices and introducing new technology, both of which will lead to a more effective and safer maintenance organisation.”

Glasgow central station on Tuesday.


He said he hoped the majority of the 1,800 job losses would come “through voluntary severance and natural wastage” – although voluntary redundancies would require the union to accept the reforms.

The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said the turnout at picket lines was “fantastic and exceeded expectations”, and pledged that members would continue the campaign, “leading the way for all workers in this country who are sick and tired of having their pay and conditions slashed by a mixture of big business profits and government policy”.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said the shutdown had hit businesses and unfairly cut people off from hospitals, schools and work, adding: “However, early data shows that unlike in the past many people now have the opportunity to work from home, so we haven’t even [had] a rush to the roads, as traffic has instead gone online, which means the unions aren’t having the overall impact they might have hoped.”

As a result of the tube strike, London was most affected by rising traffic, according to data from satnav company TomTom, with morning congestion levels – measured in terms of additional time needed to travel compared with free-flowing traffic – up from 77% a week ago to 98% today. Liverpool’s 8am congestion levels increased from 48% to 55% and Newcastle’s from 50% to 57%.

Waze, another satnav company, said there was “bumper-to-bumper traffic” on the M25, M1 and M40 into London with increased congestion in residential boroughs such as Ealing, Barking and Edmonton, with traffic moving at about 8mph in the morning.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, described the walkouts as a “stunt” and refused to enter talks, saying it would “make matters worse”. He reiterated government plans to amend strike laws and allow agency workers to step in to roles including rail control, which unions dismissed as unworkable.

A number of Labour backbench MPs appeared on the picket lines to offer outright support, while the party leadership equivocated over whether to back the action, which Conservatives have sought to blame on the opposition.

People waiting for a bus in central London.


The prime minister, Boris Johnson, told the cabinet that commuters must be ready to “stay the course” and prepare for further strikes, warning that without fundamental changes to the way the system operates, fares would rise and the industry would decline.

The rail industry estimates the strikes will cost £150m in lost revenue over the week – with fears that it will also encourage many to stay working from home just as rail numbers were returning to over 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

The hospitality industry said the hit could be even greater for restaurants, pubs and other businesses, with a potential £500m loss of revenue for a sector already battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Footfall across all UK high streets was down 8.5% compared with last week, and down 27% in central London, according to retail data analyst Springboard.

Nevertheless, many Londoners also turned to cycling and walking to beat the tube strike, on a day of warm sunshine. Transport for London said there were only about 40,000 journeys on London Underground in the morning, a 95% fall from last week, with bus journeys up 7% on last week. Cycle hire was also up 46% compared with Monday.

Meanwhile, after predictions that the rail union’s stand could lead to a wider summer of discontent, the postal workers’ union said it was considering strike action after rejecting a 2% pay rise offer as “totally inadequate”.

The Communications Workers Union is to serve notice for a national ballot of Royal Mail staff as it pushes for an inflation-based, no strings award. Papers will be sent to CWU members on 28 June, with the result due three weeks later.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
×