Buses, bikes and boats part of 'major effort' to reduce impact of Tube strike

Details of a "major effort" to help people get to work during a strike by London Underground workers were unveiled today, including extra buses, escorted bike rides and more river journeys.

Thousands of members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association are due to walk out for 24 hours from 5pm on Monday in a row over 800 job losses.

The walkout, to be followed by further stoppages in October and November, threaten travel chaos in the capital, where millions of Tube journeys are made every day.

Mayor Boris Johnson and Transport for London today announced contingency plans for dealing with the strike, with 100 extra buses being laid on, escorted bike rides, marshalled taxi ranks, and capacity for 10,000 more journeys on the River Thames.

Volunteers will be positioned at Tube, bus, and rail stations to help people with their journeys and provide maps and other information.

The move follows the breakdown of peace talks at the conciliation service Acas yesterday, with both sides blaming each other for the deadlock.

TfL warned today that disruption is expected from late afternoon on Monday and is set to last throughout Tuesday if the strike goes ahead.

Mr Johnson, said: "Londoners are a hardy bunch and I am sure a Tube strike will not deter us from getting around. I have asked TfL to pull out all the stops, but we must be clear that the RMT and TSSA plan to inconvenience Londoners for no good reason.

"The extra measures we have put in call for a team effort and people will need to consider buses, boats or bikes as an alternative to their usual journeys. This planned action will cause disruption for millions of Londoners and I call on the unions to get round the table and show common sense."

Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said: "We continue to make every effort to avoid a dispute. There is no need for any action as the changes we are introducing come with no compulsory redundancies, and mean that stations will remain staffed at all times and every station with a ticket office will continue to have one.

"We regret that Londoners will be disrupted if the strike goes ahead. However the RMT and TSSA leadership will not stop London Underground from moving with the times. Due to the success of Oyster, just one journey in 20 now involves a ticket office, and some ticket offices sell fewer than 10 tickets an hour. The mayor and TfL have prepared plans to keep London moving and thousands of TfL staff will be on hand across the city to help our passengers.

"A massive effort is being made including boosting bus and river services, providing shared taxi services and escorted commuter cycle rides, and distributing thousands of walking maps across central London. We urge everyone travelling in and around London during the strike to check before you travel and to consider the wide range of alternative travel options by going to www.tfl.gov.uk as well as staggering your normal journeys where possible."

London Underground admitted that disruption is likely on most Tube journeys during the strike, adding that it will run as many trains and keep as many stations open as possible.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Instead of meaningless PR gimmicks from the mayor he should start telling his officials to take this dispute seriously and he should also start putting Tube safety before the dash to slash budgets.

"Boris Johnson was elected on a promise of protecting ticket offices and station staffing. Rather than throwing out red herrings like banning the right to strike he should get a grip on the lethal consequences that his officials' Tube cuts will have for both staff and the travelling public.

"The action is on and our members are finalising plans for picket lines across the network. RMT remains available for talks but we cannot and will not negotiate with a gun at our heads. It's down to LU to pull back from the brink of their ill-conceived cuts plans and to clear the way for meaningful discussions that protect safety and safe staffing levels."

Up to 200 Tube maintenance workers at depots on London Underground's Jubilee and Northern lines will go on strike for 24 hours from 7pm on Sunday in a separate row over pay and conditions.

The Alstom-Metro employees will also walk out for the same time on October 2, November 1 and November 27 after rejecting an "insulting" sub-inflation pay offer.

Meanwhile, the TSSA announced that its members employed by Tube Lines will strike next Tuesday in a different row over pay.

Managers and clerical workers will walk out from 9am to 5pm and start an indefinite ban on overtime.