Tube strike: use London’s transport alternatives

Less than a month after the 9th of July tube strike which was the first London-wide shutdown in 13 years, London commuters and tourists are set to face another 24 hours tube strike.

London underground workers are set to walk out from 6.30 pm on Wednesday and no tube services will be available all day on Thursday. The row is over new London Night Tube services, due to launch on the 12th of September.

London’s transport alternatives during the tube strike

Commuters and tourists will need to use London’s transport alternatives during the strike:

Rail

The DLR, London Overground, trams and TfL Rail services will operate normally but will obviously be busier than usual, especially when stopping around an underground station.

London buses

London bus services will be available during the strike and TFL will set an extra 250 buses as well as additionnal staff. As seen during the last strike, you should expect queues and a busy traffic on the road while taking London buses.

River boats

River boats could be a good alternative to avoid roads & rails. Additional river services will be available but you can still expect some queues.

Coaches

Coach services might be useful in certain cases, especially if you need to travel from one side of London to another.

Driving or using taxis

The road will be extremely busy and queues for taxis are expected to be huge.

Biking

Cycling will be a reliable transport alternative during the tube strike. There are more than 10,000 bikes at over 700 docking stations, situated every 300 to 500 metres in London. Additionnal bikes will be available during the strike as well as additionnal docking stations in the following places:

• in Victoria: Abbey Orchard Street
• in Soho: Soho Square
• in Strand: Houghton Street
• in Moorgate: Finsbury Square
• in St James: Waterloo Place
• in Marylebon: Chapel Hall
• in Waterloo: Concert Hall Approach

Please note that during the last tube strike, Boris bikes were difficult to find so we suggest to take your own bike if you have one.

Walking

Walking might be faster than waiting and taking the bus in certain cases, Ary Joe Creatives has created a Walking tube map to check the walking times between London Underground stations:

Source: Telegraph, BBC, CGPGrey