A six-day strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) entered its fourth day on Wednesday, leaving most of London's Underground network suspended and renewing calls from some politicians and academics to accelerate plans for driverless trains.
Transport for London (TfL) said almost no Tube services were running until Friday mid-morning, with a small number of shuttle services operating on parts of the Central, Metropolitan, Northern and District lines. Several lines remained fully suspended, including the Bakerloo, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Piccadilly, Victoria and Waterloo & City lines. The union said its action was over pay and working hours and warned it could target the Elizabeth line next; TfL has offered a 3.4% pay rise while the RMT is pushing for a reduction in weekly hours.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said there had been a "total collapse of industrial relations" on London Underground and urged Mayor Sadiq Khan to intervene, adding that union members were willing to return to talks if invited. The mayor, who has previously said he wants the parties back round the table, has posted limited public comment during the dispute; his office reiterated a call for negotiations and urged commuters to check the TfL Go app for live updates.
Opposition politicians at City Hall criticised Khan for what they described as an absence from public engagement over the strikes. City Hall Conservatives said the mayor had been "notably absent from public discourse" and renewed their long-standing support for automation as a way to reduce the impact of industrial action. The Conservatives pointed to the driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which opened in 1987, and to other cities such as Paris, Tokyo and Barcelona, where driverless lines have been introduced.
Supporters of automation argue that fully driverless trains could reduce the ability of unions to halt services. Critics, including unions representing train drivers, cite safety concerns and argue that staff roles would be affected. Aslef, a drivers' union, has previously warned it would resist plans it saw as threatening members' jobs. TfL has said converting parts of the network to full automation would be complex and expensive: officials estimate the work could cost billions of pounds, with a figure of about £20 billion often cited for modernising three of the oldest lines.
Economists and researchers have warned of economic consequences from the walkout. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimated a direct hit to the London economy of about £230 million from the strikes, with additional indirect costs as commuters alter travel plans, work from home or avoid the capital. Data from Virgin Media O2 showed footfall in central London down 16% at 1 p.m. on Tuesday compared with the previous week, with larger declines in business districts: Canary Wharf down 31%, London Bridge and the City down 21%, and Westminster down 19%.
Commuters and transport operators reported a shift to alternative modes. Bus queues lengthened, river services added extra sailings and bike-share operators said they experienced large increases in usage. Lime, which runs e-bikes in the capital, reported a 58% increase in trips during Monday's morning peak compared with the same period a week earlier, and Forest, another bike-share operator, reported a 300% increase in rides during yesterday's 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. rush hour. TfL and local authorities said they were monitoring road safety, amid concerns about a sudden rise in e-bike use in central areas.
The dispute has roots in longstanding disagreements over pay, shift patterns and staffing levels. The RMT has raised concerns about the impact of shift work and has pressed for shorter contracted weekly hours; union leaders say the demands are part of talks that began in 2018 and that members are not seeking excessive pay increases. TfL says it has made a pay offer and that negotiations remain the route to a resolution.
The prospect of automation has attracted periodic attention from national politicians. Former prime minister Boris Johnson and then-transport secretaries urged TfL to study driverless technology during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022 the Department for Transport asked TfL to consider feasibility as part of a wider bailout package. Mayor Khan, however, told reporters in December that work to introduce driverless trains would "not be progressed any further" at that time.
Downing Street and No. 10 called on both sides to return to talks. The prime minister's official spokesman said the government wanted to see the RMT and TfL "get back around the table and work together in good faith to resolve this situation in the interests of passengers," citing the disruption to school runs, hospital appointments and businesses.
As the strike continued, transport officials, employers and unions said resolving the dispute through negotiation remained the most certain way to restore services and limit the wider economic effects. Public debate about automation and the future organisation of London's transport network is likely to persist beyond the immediate industrial action, but any large-scale conversion of lines to driverless operation would require significant investment, planning and consultation with staff and safety regulators.