Local Bus Services To Be Hit By Industrial Action


Strike taking place over three days on a number of routes in the area

94 one of routes likely to be affected
94 one of routes likely to be affected

Over 2,000 bus drivers serving routes in the local area are set to go on strike later this month leading to a disruption of bus services in the area.

Members of the Unite union are taking industrial action over changed working conditions with drivers claiming that the new arrangements have effectively given them pay cuts of up to £2,500 per annum.

The drivers are employees of RATP Dev London which oversees London United, Quality Line and London Sovereign.

Unite members at London United, which operates services mainly in areas such as White City, Shepherd’s Bush, Ealing, Acton, Chiswick, Putney and Wimbledon and are striking for three days, lasting from 00:01 on Monday 22 February through to 23:59 on Wednesday 24 February.

The London United routes, which will be affected are: 18, 33, 65, 70, 71, 72, 85, 94, 110, 111, 116, 148, 203, 216, 220, 223, 224, 265, 266, 281, 283, 371, 406, 411, 418, 419, 423, 440, 613, 662, 665, 671, 681, 696, 697, 465, N18, N33, N65, N72, N266, C1, H22, H32, H37, H98, K1, K2, K3, K4 and K5

Drivers at Quality Line, which operates services in similar areas to London United, will strike on the Monday and Tuesday, while Drivers at London Sovereign, which covers many routes in Harrow, Edgware and Wembley, will strike on the Monday only..

The Quality Line routes, which will be affected on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 February are: 293, 404, 413, 463, 467, 470, 633, S1, S3

The London Sovereign routes, which we be affected on Monday 22 February only are: 79, 142, 183, 251, 258, 288, 303, 326, 395, 398, 642, N5, H9, H10, H11, H12, H14, H17, H18 and H19

59 day routes, six 24-hour routes, six night routes and nine school routes - predominately in south west London – are expected to be affected. TfL say they aim to ensure as many bus services run as possible but customers in west, south west and north west London and parts of Surrey and Hertfordshire are advised to check before they travel from Monday 22 February. Normal services are expected to resume from 6:00am on Thursday 25 February.

All other London buses will operate as usual. To ensure any potential disruption is kept to a minimum, passengers who must travel on the potentially affected days are advised to check before they travel, leave extra time for their journey, and where possible, consider alternative transport. Real time service updates will be available on the TfL website TfL Go app, with information on quiet times on the network also available on the website.

Claire Mann, Director of Bus Operations at TfL, said, “We’re sorry that some of our customers may experience disruption to their journeys early next week. We’re doing all we can to minimise this, but customers should check before they travel and leave more time for their journeys, while remembering the Government’s advice to continue to stay at home if they can. We urge all parties to sit down and talk through the issues to try and resolve them as soon as possible.”

London Underground, London Overground and London Trams services in the area will operate as normal.

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February 20, 2021