London survived another grrrr of 24-hour Tube strikes, with services now back to normal. Both sides are inevitably claiming victory. TfL reckon that 40% of trains were running, while union boss Bob Crow counters that "The first casualty of war is always the truth." More strikes are due for November, unless Cameron, Johnson and co can mediate a truce.
But how was the strike for you? As with the last strike, our own journey was actually somewhat quicker, thanks to the closure of several intermediary stations on a smooth-running Northern Line. We weren't alone in enjoying this contrary outcome. Kai Hoffman, commenting on our Facebook wall, says: "Absolutely no problem - Vic line running p. much as usual. Walked the rest of the way from Euston. Lovely day."
Kevin Mills also had a smoother journey: "I delayed my journey to Canary Wharf by an hour to avoid the crowds for the boat at Millennium Pier (soon to be renamed London Eye Pier, btw). It worked. Walked straight onto Thames Clipper that was even emptier than usual. Mind you, I was sacked for being late."
But there were also plenty of grumbles. Pamela Murphy noted her frustration: "Two and a half hours from Clapham to Praed St. in Paddington. Three buses and lots of walking and I finally arrived at work at 11am." Meanwhile, Joe Rigby says it like it is: "Camden to Osterly took over an hour by motorbike as there was so much traffic in the way! Usually it takes 30mins. I'll have to wait until I've worked my way up into management before I'm paid so much for doing so little, but then of course I'll go on strike like our good friends at RMT."
And Martin Deutsch seemingly built his social calendar around the strikes: "I cycled into town to see Metropolis at the Prince Charles, which had something to say about the discord between the workers and the management. Seemed appropriate..."
If you have your own tales of joy or woe, add them to our Facebook thread, or leave a comment here.
All images courtesy of C.G.P. Grey in the Londonist Flickr pool.
