Paris metro free tonight, London??
- From: Earl Evleth <evleth@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 19:33:35 +0100
Subway Strike Disrupts London New Year's
By SUE LEEMAN Associated Press Writer
© 2005 The Associated Press
LONDON ? Subway workers in the British capital walked out Saturday in a
24-hour strike timed to cripple the subway system on a night when tens of
thousands of revelers were planning to celebrate New Year in the city.
Guards and ticket office workers began leaving their posts from noon and the
service was expected to slowly run down into the evening as others finished
shifts and were not replaced.
More than a dozen stations were closed by mid-afternoon.
"We are looking at the closure of most of the system," said a spokesman for
the RMT union, speaking anonymously in line with union policy.
But London Underground said it hoped enough non-RMT workers would turn up
for work to keep some services running on all lines.
"We hope to be able to provide services throughout the night, we hope to be
able to keep all our stations open," said Nigel Holness of London
Underground.
As ticket staff abandoned their offices at King's Cross, a major rail and
subway junction in north London, Joanne Hewitt, 28, found herself
temporarily unable to reach her home in Earl's Court, west London, where she
was due to host a party.
"We might have to get a bus or a taxi. Our friends ... are flying into
Heathrow, but they can't get the tube to come to our party tonight. So it's
not great," she said.
Of the 6,000 staff who work at subway stations, some 4,000 belong to the
RMT.
The strike echoes a three-day walkout by New York transit workers over
pensions that shut down the city's subways and buses just before Christmas.
The RMT is demanding that London Underground suspend introduction of new
staff assignments and schedules, which it says are a threat to safety
because they spread staff too thin. Managers say they would never compromise
on safety.
The strike was expected to disrupt the plans of many people planning to
attend an open-air party with fireworks in Trafalgar Square.
It is also expected to affect Sunday's colorful New Year's Parade in
Parliament Square, which has drawn 10,000 workers from all over the world.
"London deserves better than this," said parade organizer Dan Kirkby.
During past strikes, managers have stepped in to help run parts of the
network, but services have been very limited on a network that usually
handles up to 3 million passenger journeys per day _ leading to gridlock in
the capital.
Emergency services and road safety groups said they feared an increase in
drunken driving as more partygoers take to their cars.
Transport for London, which operates the capital's buses, said it will be
running buses on 40 extra routes through the night Saturday, mainly because
of the extra volume of New Year's passengers.
All bus travel from 11:45 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. (2345 to 0430 GMT) will be free.
The next strike is planned for Jan. 8.
.
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