Night Tube: RMT announces strike for date of restart

The reopening of the Night Tube could be delayed after a union announced a strike on the date of its resumption.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said the series of 24-hour walkouts had been organised as current plans to run the service would wreck the work-life balance of its members.

Services between 01:00 and 05:30 were due to begin on the Central and Victoria lines from 27 November.

Transport for London (TfL) called the strikes "unnecessary action".

Drivers on Jubilee, Central, Piccadilly, Victoria and Northern lines are due to take part in a number of walkouts between 26 November and 18 December, which would impact Night Tube services.

More than 100,000 people had signed a petition demanding the reinstatement of the Night Tube amid concerns about women's safety. The resumption was announced last month.

Before the pandemic the service ran on five Underground lines and the London Overground on Fridays and Saturdays, but was halted when lockdown began last year.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "No one has worked harder to ensure a safe environment for women on London Underground than the RMT.

"While Tube bosses have axed staff and left stations routinely unstaffed, with all of the obvious risks, we have campaigned relentlessly for the front line, physical presence of visible staff on stations and platforms.

"All of this was avoidable if the Tube management hadn't axed dedicated Night Tube staff and perfectly workable arrangements in order to cut staffing numbers and costs."

'Unnecessary action'

Nick Dent, director of London Underground customer operations, said: "We are disappointed that the RMT is threatening London with this unnecessary action.

"The positive changes to Tube driver rosters have provided greater flexibility for drivers as well as permanent work and job certainty, something welcomed by all other unions.

"We have been meeting with the RMT for a number of months through ACAS to try and resolve their issues and we remain open to talking further."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "I know how important the return of the Night Tube is to London's night-time economy, to our city's recovery and to the confidence and safety of everyone travelling home at night, particularly women and girls.

"That is why I'm so determined to restart night services.

"The unnecessary strike action threatened by RMT would delay many Londoners having another option to travel home safely at night and would hold our city back at a time when our culture and hospitality sectors have been devastated by the pandemic.

"I call on the RMT to call off these strikes, come back to the table and work with TfL to bring back full Night Tube services on these lines."