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Major London underground line goes on strike over dispute

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nearly 400 train drivers of Piccadilly Line, one of the busiest underground lines in London, will go on strike on Wednesday night over a range of issues.

Transport union RMT said Wednesday a 24-hour strike action will take place from 9 p.m. by about 400 train operators across the Piccadilly Line over "a comprehensive breakdown in industrial relations combining a range of issues".

There is no train services on this line on Wednesday night , and Transport for London advised commuters to complete journeys on this line by 10:30 p.m., and to travel earlier if possible.

RMT said 85 percent of its members voted for strike action, and the ballot for action was called after a prolonged period of industrial problems on the line, which included the aging Piccadilly Line fleet, leaving drivers on this line in a vulnerable position.

There has also been an appalling lack of consistency by local management when it comes to addressing the long-running issues impacting on the Piccadilly Line, the union said.

"The hostile and aggressive attitude by tube bosses has collapsed the normal negotiating process and as a result they are wholly to blame for the fact that the strike action goes ahead for 24 hours from tonight exactly as planned," said Mick Cash, general secretary of RMT.

"RMT will not sit back and allow individual members to be picked off by a vindictive and aggressive management who are continuing to drag their heels over addressing fundamental safety issues which leave staff in a vulnerable and exposed position," he added.

Cash said that it is shocking that the management side have chosen to walk away and refuse to address the serious issues at the heart of this dispute.

With an average of 600,000 passengers everyday, Piccadilly Line is the fourth busiest line on the London Underground network. Endit