A planned strike that was set to cause major disruption on the Elizabeth line has been postponed.
Aslef, the union representing the line’s drivers, had previously announced that almost 500 drivers would be walking out for four days.
However, in a statement announced today, the union said: “Following a revised offer from MTR, which Aslef’s executive committee will review tomorrow morning (Wednesday, February 25), the strike action scheduled for Thursday, 27 February, and Saturday, 1 March, is suspended.”
Aslef had planned four 24-hour strikes over the next few weeks in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
The strike was a part of a dispute over pay with MTR Elizabeth line, the people who manage the service (not TfL), with drivers belonging to the union rejecting a 4.5 percent pay increase.
The strikes were meant to take place – Thursday, February 27, Saturday, March 1, Saturday, March 8 and Monday, March 10. The strikes taking place on Thursday, February 27 and Saturday, March 1 have been called off.
Aslef held talks on today, February 25 with MTR, the private company that operates the Elizabeth line for Transport for London.
The cancellation occurred just hours after TfL issued travel advice to give passengers maximum notice about the potential disruption. TfL warned that there would be ‘no service’ on most of the Lizzie line and a significantly reduced service on the eastern part between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
What stations were meant to be affected?
It would have also meant that the planned strikes on Thursday and Saturday this week would have resulted in no services running between Abbey Wood and Heathrow including all of the stops from Paddington to Abbey Wood.
