Londoners are facing an extraordinary week of travel disruption as a five-day strike by London Underground workers, organized by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, brings much of the city’s iconic Tube network to a standstill. The industrial action, which began on Sunday, September 7, 2025, and is set to last through Thursday, September 11, has left commuters scrambling for alternatives, forced the rescheduling of major concerts, and reignited a fierce debate over pay, working hours, and public sector funding.
According to Sky News, the strike comes after nine months of failed negotiations between the RMT and Transport for London (TfL). The union’s primary demand: a reduction of the standard working week from 35 to 32 hours, citing the toll that early and late shifts take on workers’ health. TfL, facing its own budgetary pressures, has countered with a 3.4% pay rise which it describes as “fair,” but insists that a shorter workweek is “neither practical nor affordable.”
The impact was felt immediately on Sunday, as the Bakerloo and Circle lines were completely suspended, with limited service on other lines and severe delays on the Jubilee line. The Central, Metropolitan, and Piccadilly lines were also partly closed or suspended, Bloomberg reported. TfL urged passengers to finish any journeys by 6pm, warning that any services still running would be much busier than usual. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) managed to operate normally on Sunday, but its own separate pay dispute would soon add to the chaos.
Monday through Thursday saw even more severe disruption. BBC News explained that there would be little to no Tube service on the entire network before 8am or after 6pm each day. On Tuesday and Thursday, the DLR was completely shut down, and on the other days, it ran only partial service, especially at stations shared with the Tube. The Elizabeth line, London Overground, and trams continued to operate, but with the Tube out of action, these services became packed, and trains sometimes skipped stations because platforms were too crowded.
For Londoners, the timing could hardly have been worse. With schools in session and businesses gearing up for a busy September, the strike has affected not just workers, but also families and students who rely on the Underground for their daily routines. As BBC Newsround observed, “lots of people will be affected, including people who live and work in the city and children who use the Tube to go to school.”
Beyond the daily grind, the disruption has rippled through the city’s cultural calendar. Coldplay, in the midst of a ten-show run at Wembley Stadium, was forced to reschedule their concerts originally planned for September 7 and 8 to September 6 and 12. The band posted on social media, “Without a Tube service, it’s impossible to get 82,000 people to the concert and home again safely, and therefore no event licence can be granted.” U.S. singer-songwriter Post Malone also postponed his Tottenham Hotspur Stadium shows from September 7 and 8 to September 20 and 21. According to BBC, “promoters said no event licence could be provided without adequate public transport.”
Despite the frustration and inconvenience, the RMT insists the industrial action is necessary to protect its members’ wellbeing. The union argues that the current roster of early and late shifts is unsustainable, impacting workers’ health and family life. In a statement, the RMT said, “We are calling for a 32-hour week for our members.”
TfL, for its part, is adamant that further concessions are simply not feasible. A spokesperson told BBC News, “We are committed to ensuring our colleagues are treated fairly and, as well as offering a 3.4% pay increase in our ongoing pay discussions, we have made progress on a number of commitments we have made previously. We welcome further engagement with our unions about fatigue and rostering across London Underground, but a reduction in the contractual 35-hour working week is neither practical nor affordable.” TfL estimates that meeting the union’s demands would cost “hundreds of millions of pounds to fund.”
The strike is not limited to the Tube and DLR. Starting at 5am on Friday, September 12, a separate strike by First Bus drivers is set to begin, lasting until 5am on Monday, September 15. This action is expected to cause little or no bus service in parts of west, northwest, and southwest London, further complicating travel for thousands of residents. TfL has warned that all remaining public transport services will be “extremely busy,” and has encouraged Londoners to plan ahead, use journey planning apps, and consider cycling or walking where possible. Bike and scooter hire schemes, such as Santander, Lime, and Forest, remain available throughout the capital.
The last time a strike of this magnitude shut down the entire network was in March 2023, according to BBC. That walkout was narrowly averted at the last minute by a £30 million intervention from the Mayor of London, but this time, no such rescue materialized. The standoff has reignited debate over who bears responsibility for the disruption. Trade unions blame management and government for failing to address workers’ concerns, while employers argue that the union’s demands are excessive and the resulting chaos unfair to the public.
For many, the strikes are a reminder of the power—and the cost—of collective action. As BBC Newsround explains, workers strike “to try to get improvements where they work, more money, make changes to their working hours, stop their wages going down, or because they think their company has been unfair.” The hope is that by stopping work, decision-makers will be forced to listen. Yet, as the scenes across London this week demonstrate, such action can come at a steep price for everyone involved.
Looking ahead, services are expected to return to normal by late morning on Friday, September 12, with the Tube reopening at 8am. Still, the aftershocks of this week’s disruption will likely linger, both in the city’s travel patterns and in the ongoing debate over the future of work on London’s Underground.
