Tube union RMT today called for direct talks between the Mayor, unions and passenger groups, and demanded an immediate halt to tube jobs and maintenance cuts, after what the union described as ’24 hours of tube hell.’
On Tuesday night the Jubilee Line was ‘plunged into chaos through a combination of a power shutdown and faulty rolling stock and operating systems leaving over 1700 passengers to disembark and walked through sweltering tube tunnels with the assistance of station staff.’
By Wednesday morning, the Jubilee Line was still in ‘total disarray.’
District, Metropolitan and Circle Line services were also disrupted.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Waterloo and City Line was hit by a communications fault and the ‘misery was compounded by rush hour shutdowns’ on the Central Line at the same time due to a fire alert at Leytonstone, a faulty train at Bond St and a signal failure.
The Piccadilly and District also experienced severe delays rounding up the ’24 hours of tube hell.’
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:
“It’s a start that the Mayor has admitted that the tube on his watch has become a ‘disaster’ but now he needs to get the unions, passenger groups and his officials around a table to look at why we are facing this unprecedented chaos and to start working out some solutions.
“Just over a year away from the London Olympics we need urgent action to stop the tube lurching from crisis to crisis and we need that action now. Unleashing a further £7.6 billion of cuts, which is what TFL are proposing, will lead to a permanent and irretrievable breakdown in services.”
