All-night Tube service will be delayed
The launch date of London's Night Tube is to be delayed.
The
24-hour weekend service on the Jubilee, Victoria and most of the
Piccadilly, Central and Northern lines was due to start on 12 September.
Tube
workers staged two 24-hour strikes in July and August in a dispute with
London Underground (LU) over rotas and working conditions on the new
service.
LU said it had deferred the introduction to "allow more time" for talks with the unions.
On Monday a further two 24-hour Tube strikes planned
for this week were called off after discussions between LU managers and
Unite union, the train drivers' union Aslef, the Transport Salaried
Staffs Association (TSSA) and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union
(RMT).
LU
managing director Nick Brown said: "Further to the progress made in
recent days with the trade unions and the suspension of strike action,
we believe we are not far from an agreement that protects the work-life
balance of our employees and is affordable, sustainable and fair.
"As such, we have decided to defer the introduction of Night Tube to allow more time for those talks to conclude.
"Our objective is to reach an agreement that ends this dispute and delivers the Night Tube for Londoners this autumn."
London
Mayor Boris Johnson said: "As I've previously made clear, I'm not
interested in a staring match over 12 September and I want to see night
Tube introduced this autumn.
"Agreement on this is in everyone's
interests - Londoners, businesses, visitors to our city and the
hard-working London Underground staff who are central to making this
happen."
He added further strike action "isn't going to benefit anyone".
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, welcomed the deferral of the launch.
He
said: "It has to be done in a way that works for London Underground,
for passengers, and also for the drivers who deliver this service every
day.
"Had LU not acted in bad faith, by trying to introduce the
Night Tube in London without consultation, and without negotiation, we
wouldn't be where we are today and they would have been in a position to
deliver."
However, the RMT has set two new Tube strike dates of 8 and 10 September if no agreement is reached.
RMT
general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT welcomes this move, which is
what we have been calling for ever since we went into dispute over the
night Tube issue.
"We warned repeatedly that it would be dangerous
and foolish to press ahead with bodged night Tube plans until the very
basics in terms of staffing and safety had been agreed with the unions
through the long-established frameworks."
The RMT added the move mean its members were "right to strike".
Businesses expressed dismay at the deferral.
David
Leam, of business group London First, said: "This is disappointing for
businesses, but if it gives London Underground and the unions time to
come up with a long-term deal it will be worth it."
Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Caroline
Pidgeon said the move was a "big climbdown for the mayor" and
"strengthened the union's negotiating position".
Labour's London Assembly transport spokeswoman Val Shawcross, said the deferral came as "little surprise".
She
added: "If you try and launch a major project without speaking to the
people you'll be relying on to deliver it, it's never going to end
well."
In September 2014, TfL announced the Night Tube would run
on Fridays and Saturdays with six trains per hour through central London
on five Tube lines, while on the Northern Line, there would have been
eight trains an hour to meet demand at busy stations between Leicester
Square and Camden Town.
Chancellor George Osborne and Mr Johnson said it would add £6.4bn to the London economy by 2030 and create 500,000 new jobs.
