Tube workers have announced they will be striking again from January 7 until June, meaning Londoners will struggle to find a safe way home on Friday and Saturday nights.
Why will the tube stop running?
The night tube, which was suspended throughout most of the pandemic, was due to return in November – but underground workers started striking in a row with the London mayor over working conditions.
This meant the underground stopped running on certain lines right up until Christmas.
Now, the RMT – national union of rail, maritime and transport workers – has confirmed they will continue strike action every weekend from the start of the New Year through to June to protect “the work life balance of drivers”.
Transport for London insists that other unions have agreed to these new shift changes, as drivers would work only around four night shifts every year.
Tube workers will not book on for any duties starting from 8.30pm on any Friday until 8am the next day. This process will be repeated on Saturday evenings too.
So far, this strike will apply to the Central and Victorian lines, but the union says it is considering extending it to other lines if the London Underground does not respond.
The November to December strike extended to the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines too.
How you can still get home safely in London
The best thing you can do is plan your route home.
Electric scooters can be rented in Camden, City of London, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Tower Hamlets, Westminster, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Kensington and Chelsea. It costs between £3.25 and £3.40 for 15-minute journeys.
Check bus times ahead of your journey, and allow more time to get to your destination.
You can schedule an Uber ride or a black cab up to 30 days in advance as well.
If you’re caught short, you could rent a bike – Londoners in the centre of the city are supposedly around 600m away from a Santander Cycle hire point at any time.
Zone 1 of the city is mostly walkable too, and maps can be downloaded from the TfL website.
TfL rail is an alternative from getting to and from Heathrow airport as well.
