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Zhu Rong
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London commuters hit by 4th Tube strike since September
Passengers wait for a train at a station in London November 3, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Paul Hackett
LONDON | Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:16pm GMT
LONDON (Reuters) - Londoners face a struggle to get to and from work on Monday after thousands of the city's underground rail workers started a 24-hour strike on Sunday evening, their fourth walkout since September. Transport for London, which runs the publicly controlled network known as the Tube, warned of disruption but said it expected to run services on all but one of the capital's 140-year-old network during the strike.
A cold snap gripping the country could cause extra problems for travellers on Monday, with the Met Office forecasting icy conditions would last for a number of days. However, London has been less badly affected than northeast England and Scotland. The Tube carries some 3 million passengers daily and business lobbies have said the stoppages cost the capital up to 50 million pounds per day.
There are signs that industrial unrest may be building in Britain -- the newly-appointed head of Britain's largest trade union Unite told Britain's coalition government on Wednesday that more strikes were inevitable in the UK as workers reacted to job losses and spending cuts. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association walked out on Sunday evening in a dispute over 800 job cuts at underground ticket offices which they argue will affect safety.
Transport for London said in a statement emailed to Reuters that normal tube services would resume on Tuesday, adding that during the third of four-planned walkouts at the beginning of November it managed to run over 40 percent of usual services.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Keith Weir)
