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Tube strikes dog London’s Chinese New Year celebrations as two-day industrial action looms

Tube strikes are expected to cause havoc at the start of Chinese New Year this weekend as a 48-hour walkout is planned as part of RMT union action.

The strikes are expected to start 9pm Saturday, causing disruption from early that evening, until 9pm on Monday.

Tube services will still run, but striking staff means stations may open late, close early, or not open at all.

Overground, bus network, DLR, tram, river and rail services may also be affected by extra volumes, though they will be running normal schedules and extra buses and cycle hubs will be operated.

Customers are advised to check the TfL website for updated information before travel, including on Tuesday after the strike.

Many locations in central London are easily accessible from mainline rail stations, and Transport for London will have staff on hand to help people get to their destinations on foot, by bus, by Santander Cycles or other means.

There is still a possibility that the strikes may be avoided as talks are ongoing.

Weekend engineering works will go ahead as planned.

Steve Griffiths, London Underground’s chief operating officer, said: “All of our ticket offices closed in December and all this strike will achieve is to lose staff two days’ pay and a 500 bonus.

“We have delivered every commitment we made to our staff over our stations modernisation programme – there have been no compulsory redundancies, work life balance has been protected and there’s a job for anyone who wants to stay with no loss of pay.

“Around 900 station staff will be promoted or will move from fixed-term contracts to permanent roles, so there is clearly absolutely no basis whatsoever for this strike threat.”

Picture courtesy of Jasperdo, with thanks

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