Tube boss thanks Londoners for their 'patience' during strike

Commuters wait outside a closed entrance to Oxford Circus station last night
Victoria Jones/PA
Chloe Chaplain10 January 2017

The Tube's boss has thanked Londoners for the "patience" they showed during yesterday's crippling strike action.

Steve Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer for London Underground, issued a message to London's commuters, repeating his call for the unions to work with TfL to resolve their differences.

Mr Griffiths said in a statement today: "I thank customers for the patience they showed during the unnecessary strike, and encourage the unions to continue talking with us to resolve the dispute.

“We had always intended to review staffing levels and have had constructive discussions with the unions.

"We agree that we need more staff in our stations and have already started to recruit 200 extra staff and this is likely to increase further as we work through the other areas that need to be addressed. Taking into account existing vacancies and natural turnover this means that over 600 staff will be recruited for stations this year. There will also be increased opportunities for promotion.

Tube strike chaos

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"All of this will ensure that our customers feel safe, fully supported and able to access the right assistance in our stations at all times. We encourage the unions to continue working with us on this process and the only way to resolve this dispute is to keep talking about how to improve our stations."

Normal service resumed on the Tube today.

Yesterday's strike by members of the RMT and TSSA unions was sparked by a row over job losses and ticket office closures.

It caused travel misery for millions. Stations were evacuated, roads were gridlocked, and there were huge queues across the network.

People reported taking over three hours to make their normal commute.

Some services operated on all lines and nearly 70 per cent of stations opened, many Zone 1 stations could not be opened.

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