London “Crippled” As Tube Strike Hits All Lines

By · September 7, 2010 at 10:10 am · 22 Comments · Latest News · Report an error ·

0709_paddington.jpg
Paddington this morning, by Martin Deutsch

The 24-hour Tube strike, which began yesterday, has been hailed as a huge success by union leaders, after the majority of the network was disrupted. Skeleton services on the Underground and long lines at bus stops greeted commuters this morning, despite the efforts of TfL to minimise disruption. As of 10am this morning, only the Northern line is reporting a good service, with all other lines suspended, part-suspended, or suffering delays.

The strike, called by the RMT union and the TSSA in defiance of TfL plans to reduce ticket opening hours (a matter explicated by Diamond Geezer), is the first of several planned for the remainder of 2010, and will cost London in the region of £50m per day. The BBC has a rolling live broadcast that’s keeping up with the latest on the strike as the day unfolds. It’s due to finish at 5pm today, but there are likely to be severe problems throughout into the late evening.

How was the strike for you? Drop your morning commute tales in the comments below.

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  • zefrog

    Today’s commute on a cylcle hire bike took 6 whole more minutes than yesterday’s (and I am not counting having to walk to a different docking station because my usual one was empty) because of the tubestrike and the choatic traffic it engendered. Shocking stuff!

  • zefrog

    That’s 20 min (plus about 5min walk)

  • http://undefined Gordon_Comstock

    I must confess the strike has been an absolute joy for this fortunate commuter.

    Setting off on my daily Shoreditch to Chelsea traipse I found Whitechapel tube open for business albeit with far less fellow travellers s in attendance.

    Having stepped onto the waiting Wimbledon bound train I was informed that we would only be stopping at Embankment, Victoria, South Kensington and West Brompton before depositing me safely at my destination: Parsons Green.

    A cramped 35 minute journey became a 15 minute fast track in my own private carriage.

    All hail Bob Crowe.

  • DeanN

    I went by hire bike, had to walk to a second docking station, then battled through the intense City traffic, then I couldn’t dock the thing for a while due to a slight fault on the bike’s docking element. Ah well. Still, only 30 minutes all in.

  • http://undefined Kevin

    It took me about 5 minutes more than normal to get to work, and that was only because I believed the lying TfL site that told me the Central line was running (it wasn’t), that Bow Road station was open (it was closed), and that Mile End station was closed (it was open).

    When I got to Mile End the District like whisked me to Embankment on a half empty train that stopped at only one other station on the way, Whitechapel. I made up much of the time I wasted believing the TfL site.

  • http://undefined icewharfjames

    I cycled as normal. King’s Cross area was gridlocked with traffic and pedestrians (one nice chap called me a c— for cycling through a green light). The rest of the cycle route was no busier than usual.

  • emkay

    Luckily I don’t have too far to go on a regular basis–I get the 29 from up Camden Road to Warren Street. But of course today not one bus would stop at my stop, so I walked down to Camden and got on a 134 for the last few stops (combination of laziness and tardiness!).

    It would be nice if a few of the extra buses that are laid on could start mid-route–by the time anything gets towards town, it’s totally full. I know, I know, we’re close enough, we can walk, blah blah, but it’s really not the case for everyone!!

  • http://www.oxocubeeditorial.com/ Beth Torr

    I drove into Canary Wharf today and the traffic was much better than I expected. A quick glance over the side of Beckton roundabout suggested the back route via City Airport was a better bet than the A13 but all in all, it took me about 45 minutes which is about normal.

  • http://jonnelledge.wordpress.com Jonn

    I left at the usual time, which was stupid, as it hadn’t occurred to me that every Boris bike in N1 would already be in use, and had to walk as far as Holborn.

    It was like being back in the Dark Ages. It scared me.

    • http://undefined DeanN

      I had the fear after finding that my usual docking station was empty, but I found some bikes a five minute walk away at the next station.

  • http://undefined Ezekiel

    I’m not going anywhere I can’t walk today. The striking tube workers get no sympathy from me. They’re paid above-average for unskilled workers, and a trained dog could replace most of them. Hmm, what’s wrong with this picture?

    Bob Crow is a punk-ass mofo!

  • http://undefined Martin

    I cycled – and I did notice a few more bikes on the road than usual, but then again I did set off a bit earlier than I normally would.
    Paddington is pretty much the only station I pass on my way to work – and the queue at the bus stop (above) didn’t really look like much fun.

    I’ve been keeping half an eye on http://oobrien.com/vis/bikes/ – 1129 bikes out concurrently earlier, which I think is a new record, though they’ve probably all been circling Soho trying to find a docking station…

  • http://blog.gooneruk.com gooneruk

    For the first time in ages, not everybody could get on the train at Putney, as it was already rammed. That’s usually not the case on the 7:52…

    And then at Waterloo, the bus queues were longer than normal, and there were a lot of confused-looking people around. Plenty of TfL staff to help them out though, and it looked to be running pretty smoothly.

    On High Holborn, near Holborn Circus, it was notable just how many taxis there were heading towards the City, taking up both lanes. No doubt replacing the suspended Central line which runs almost directly underneath.

    Equally, plenty of foot traffic going in the other direction, I assume going from City Thameslink area towards Chancery Lane.

    Nothing too major, but I’d be interested to see the usage stats for Boris Bikes today compared to last Tuesday…

  • Lindsey

    Left late to avoid rush hour for Highbury to Marylebone trip. Half an hour on 30 bus and it terminates at Angel. Buses all packed. Decided to walk. Wondered why I don’t walk more often as an hour later I was there. Note to self, over distance, Converse mince up your little toes. Oh and playing suitcase dodgems outside St Pancras was almost fun.

  • http://www.toneknob.com iSleepDiagonal

    Balham High Road jammed with buses and cars, which was funny as the Northern line was fine – about one train every 5 minutes but ok once you’re on. Except for all the stranded Victoria Line users who piled on at Stockwell.

    Empty train waiting on the CX branch at Kennington though, and snooze all the way up to TCR which was blissfully deserted.

    Bozbike stand in Soho Square overflowing, as many undocked bikes as there were docked ones.

    I think there should be a Zone 1-only tube strike every week so that commuters are forced to find different ways to get to work. It’s a rubbish Londoner who can only do it using one means of transport.

  • M@

    My commute from my bed to my sofa was largely unaffected.

  • Dave

    I’m curious about the Northern Line. It’s been listed as having a ‘good service’ all day, and yet the live departure boards on the TFL website are suggesting a 10-minute gap between trains. Seems contradictory to me.

    • http://undefined M@

      And many of the stations on the line were closed (e.g. the ones I passed through at Chalk Farm, Warren Street, Goodge Street).

      • http://undefined Martin

        Perhaps the combination of closed stations and large headways meant journey times ended up roughly the same as usual?

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    Empty train waiting on the CX branch at Kennington though, and snooze all the way up to TCR which was blissfully deserted.

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