200 miles of tailbacks as striking Tube staff cause ‘ an apocalypse’
Daily Express Friday August 7 2015 STRIKING workers on the London Underground caused 200 miles of rush- hour traffic jams yesterday by shutting down the network for the second time in a month.
Services are expected to return to normal today but union bosses warned of more strikes to come in their dispute over London mayor Boris Johnson’s bid to launch a limited 24- hour service at weekends.
Bookies Paddy Power put the odds of another strike this month at 11/ 8.
The 24- hour walkout caused pandemonium for commuters in both the morning and evening rush hours, with one calling it an “apocalypse”.
Thousands had to get to work on foot, by bike, bus, car or taxi.
Alan Price, 62, cycled from his home near Battersea Bridge to Parsons Green by penny farthing.
Congested
Commuters faced huge queues for buses and once they got on board they faced snail- paced journeys. One said his bus took nearly an hour to travel a mile on the gridlocked roads.
According to traffic experts TomTom there were 428 separate traffic jams at 8.45am causing 197 miles of tailbacks.
The most congested roads were around Parliament Square and on the A40 from Wood Lane to Marylebone Road. But the congestion could have been worse, said a TomTom spokesman.
“With many Londoners away on holiday and no school runs, the roads were not as congested this morning as they were during the last strike four weeks ago.”
Last night London Underground said it expected services to return to normal this morning.
An RMT union source warned of more chaos if talks at the conciliation service Acas next week are not successful. He said: “All options are under consideration by union representatives.” The RMT’s general secretary Mick Cash challenged Mr Johnson to hold face- to- face talks and claimed he had not got the message that the dispute was about work/ life balance and not money. Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer of London Underground, said: “We have made every effort to reach agreement with the unions and avoid this unnecessary strike action.
“We have employed 137 new drivers and 345 new station staff for the night Tube service. We have made work/ life balance guarantees that no one will work extra hours and that drivers will have the same number of weekends off as now and will be able to choose whether they work night Tube shifts in future.” DETECTIVES investigating the death of John “Goldfinger” Palmer have arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
Palmer, 65, who was cleared of handling proceeds from the £ 26million Brink’sMat bullion robbery at Heathrow in 1983, was shot at his home in South Weald, Essex, on June 24.
Police said a 43- year- old man from Rugby, Warwickshire, was arrested on Wednesday. He has been bailed to allow further investigations.
When Palmer was found dead in Sandpit Lane, South Weald, police did not initially treat the death as suspicious, blaming complications from a recent operation.
But a post- mortem examination later found he died of gunshot wounds to the chest.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Werrett said: “We’re continuing to appeal for witnesses to suspicious activity or for anyone with information which could help us to get in touch.”
Palmer earned his nickname after being cleared over the Brink’s- Mat raid. He was jailed in 2001 for a timeshare fraud.