On 13th January 2015, London bus drivers to
hold industrial action over pay and conditions.
TfL issued a press release.
Transport for London (TfL) has today advised bus passengers to check the
TfL website for the latest information about planned strike action by members
of the Unite union, who work for London's bus companies, which could affect bus
services on Tuesday 13 January.
The planned strike, the result of a dispute between Unite and the bus
companies over driver pay and conditions, is planned to take place between
00:01 and 23:59 on Tuesday 13 January. This would affect services throughout
Tuesday 13 January and also night bus services operating on the Tuesday night
into Wednesday morning. Bus services during the day on Wednesday 14 January
should operate as normal.
Less than 16% of the bus drivers in London voted in favour of industrial
action but, should the strike take place, services across London will be patchy
with some areas affected more than others.
All of TfL's other public transport services will be operating as normal
should the planned action by Unite go ahead.
TfL is calling for Unite and the bus companies to swiftly resolve the
dispute so that passengers are not disrupted.
Leon Daniels, TfL's Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: `It is
extremely disappointing that Unite has decided to threaten unnecessary
disruption, especially given the low turnout for the ballot and low numbers
voting for the strike. Bus drivers' pay and conditions are a matter for the bus
companies and Unite to discuss, as it has been for 20 years, and we would urge
them to seek a swift and fair resolution for the sake of our passengers`
If the strike takes place, services across London will be patchy and I
urge customers to please check our website for the latest news. We'll be
getting up-to-date information to customers as quickly as possible to ensure
that they can continue to get around the city.'
Passengers will also be kept informed of the status of their services in
a range of ways, including:
·
Check for bus arrival times using the
Countdown next bus arrival service online, on their mobile devices or via our
SMS text service;
·
A range of easily available Apps for
handheld devices use TfL's live bus information;
·
Travel alerts will be provided
through Twitter on @TfL and @TfLBusAlerts - look out for #BusStrike;
·
TfL will also be providing
information to radio and television broadcasts for use in news bulletins;
·
TfL will also have a number of
additional staff across the network and at key locations to provide advice to
passengers.
Also checking on the notes section of the press release.
The bus companies likely to be affected by the bus strike are:·
- Abellio (Abellio London and Abellio West London)
- Arriva (Arriva North and Arriva South)
- CT Plus (Hackney Community Transport)
- Go Ahead (Blue Triangle, Docklands, London General, London Central, Metrobus)
- London Sovereign
- London United
- Metroline (Metroline and Metroline West)
- Stagecoach (East London Bus & Coach Company, Selkent)
- Tower Transit
No mention of Sullivan Buses and Epsom Buses/Quality Line
going on strike. Therefore their routes may unlikely to be unaffected.
Sullivan Buses operate routes 298 and school routes 626, 628,
653, 683 & 688 under contract to London Buses.
Epsom Buses/Quality Line operate routes 404, 406, 411, 418,
463, 465, 467, 470, K5, S1, S3, X26 and school route 641 under contract to
London Buses.
The bus operator Arriva is on the list to strike but TFL
haven’t mentioned any of their non London subsidies which are Arriva Kent &
Medway, Arriva Kent Thameside, Arriva The Shires and Tellings Golden Miller
(which only operates route E10). So I cannot confirm if they are part of the
industrial action or not.
Also limited service buses are likely to be overcrowded so
under Road Traffic Act 1988 requires “vehicle users” to ensure
that vehicles are not overloaded. So you will unlikely to have any chance of
boarding the bus during strike days so use any alternative means of travelling
like walking.
The industrial action of London Buses has been about for
decades. So I like to show you the Thames News Report of the 1987 London Bus
strike which London Regional Transport prefers to tender out the bus routes to
private bus operating companies in order to cut operating costs.
Not to mention that TFL recently ordered another 200New Routemaster buses which upgrades the rollout fleet from 600 to 800 New Routemaster
buses. TFL have noplans to buy more as manufactures are planning to design their own double
decks with 2 staircases.
Keep updated from my site by following me on Twitter,
Pinterest and Tumblr which is @CLondoner92
UPDATE
I have recently written a new article on advising commuters to know when their bus is operating.
Click to view the article.
UPDATE
I have recently written a new article on advising commuters to know when their bus is operating.
Click to view the article.