Tram services face severe disruptions this week due to a strike from ASLEF union members over pay disputes.
Members of ASLEF employed by Croydon Tramlink will walk out on 28 June and 29 June, with TfL warning of "severe disruptions" on both days. Any trams that do run, says TfL, will be busier than usual.
Buses in Croydon, Wimbledon, Beckenham and Addington are also expected to be especially busy.
Why the strikes? Tram drivers employed by FirstGroup (which operates Tramlink) are being offered a 3% pay raise, while RPI inflation rates are over 11%; ASLEF says this equates to a real terms wage cut.
Finn Brennan, ASLEF’s full-time organiser, says: "Our members do a difficult and demanding job, working round the clock shifts over 364 days of the year. They deserve a fair pay settlement."
TfL, however, is unhappy with the decision to strike. Trish Ashton, TfL Director of Rail and Sponsored Services, said: "We are disappointed that ASLEF have decided to take industrial action on the tram network and urge them to meet with Tram Operations Ltd, the operator, to try and resolve this matter and avoid disruption to our customers."
These tram strikes come in the wake of London's biggest rail strike in the last 30 years last week — with the threat of more to come. Tram services are expected to return to normal by the morning of 30 June.
