RMT slam absentee mayor as London descends into travel chaos

RMT slam absentee mayor as London descends into travel chaos

7 October 2015

RMT Press Office

RMT slams "absentee mayor" as London descends into travel chaos over past 24 hours.

Transport union RMT slammed London’s “absentee mayor” Boris Johnson as rush hour services were gripped by a fresh round of chaos last night and this morning due to a spate of infrastructure failures and breakdowns.

The union pushed again for a transport summit of organisations involved in providing services in London, including the unions, to address the issues of the impact of cuts to staffing and maintenance, alongside surging passenger demand, and the associated threat to safety.

A signal failure at Baker Street led to services on the Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines being suspended while a second failure between Aldgate East and Whitechapel saw the District line partially suspended right at the peak of rush hour.

Last night’s evening rush-hour Thameslink services were hit by Overhead Line problems and this morning London Overground also suffered severe delays between Clapham Junction and Surrey Quays because of a track fault.

Kings Cross station had to be closed during this morning’s rush hour for a period of time due to dangerous levels of overcrowding. RMT members once again find themselves in the front-line dealing with the anger of passengers who have had their journeys delayed and disrupted.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:
“This has been yet another grim 24 hours for London commuters . While the Mayor is parading about Manchester pumping up his Tory leadership campaign the City he is supposed to run is sliding deeper and deeper into transport chaos.

“RMT has warned repeatedly that cuts to staffing, budgets and maintenance on both tube and rail has left services permanently on a knife edge and last night and this morning we have seen what that means in practice

“RMT shares the anger and frustration of passengers caught up in this shambles and the union will continue to fight for  a reversal of the cuts programme which threatens public safety as demand continues to surge.”

ENDS

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Tagged with: boris johnson, london underground, metropolitan line, district line hammersmith and city line, thameslink, london overground