Join 350,000+ subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of
The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
London bus strike: which routes are still running?
Find out if your route is impacted by today's bus strike in London, which is affecting 18 companies
Commuters in London were forced to find alternative routes to and from work today when thousands of workers at 18 companies staged a one-day bus strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
Members of the Unite union walked out at midnight, suspending all but 44 of the capital's 673 bus routes.
Unite said that it was mounting the bus strike to try to create a collective pay deal to bring parity to the 80 different pay rates for drivers in different companies, all of whom are doing the same job.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Transport for London (TfL) described the union's decision to strike as "extremely disappointing".
Unite spokesman Wayne King said: "Strike action is the last resort. We've been forced into this position by the operators' refusal to even meet with us. Passengers sitting side by side on the same route expect to pay the same fare, so why shouldn't drivers expect to be paid the same rate?
He added: "The bus operators need to stop pleading poverty in defending pay inequality and collectively start negotiating about a fairer deal for London's bus workers."
According to The Guardian, there are around 6.5m bus journeys made every day in London, so the strike is expected to have a significant impact. However, a survey of 1,600 people indicated that approximately two thirds of the public are sympathetic to the drivers' campaign.
Sign up for The Week’s Politics Recap newsletter
Making sense of the week's political news, delivered every Wednesday
London mayor Boris Johnson said that there are good reasons why rates of pay vary across the capital.
The mayor told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "It is very, very sensible to have different pay rates across London. There are different working environments, different labour markets across the city."
Johnson said that the strike underlined the need for new rules to limit industrial action, a policy which is currently being pushed by the Conservatives.
Travellers have been told that bus passes will be accepted today on the Tube, DLR and London Overground on "reasonable routes only", the Evening Standard reports.
Customers hoping to travel this way have been advised to show their bus pass to a member of staff rather than trying to tap in and out at stations, which will charge a standard pay-as-you-go fare.
Here is a complete list of the bus routes that are still in operation today (including School and Mobility Routes), according to @BBCTravelAlert.
66 Romford Station to Leytonstone Station142 Watford Junction Station to Brent Cross Shopping Centre160 Thomas Lane to Sidcup Station258 Watford Junction Station to South Harrow Bus Station268 Golders Green Station to O2 Centre / Sainsbury's288 Queensbury Morrisons to Meadfield298 Arnos Grove Station to Cranborne Road Industrial Estate303 Edgware Bus Station to Colindale ASDA305 Edgware Bus Station to Kingsbury Circle340 Edgware Bus Station to Harrow Bus Station346 Upminster Station / St Lawrence Road to Lexington Way370 Mercury Gardens to Lakeside375 Romford Station to Passingford Bridge404 Coulsdon Library to Westway406 Cromwell Road Bus Station to Epsom Town Centre or Epsom Hospital411 Cromwell Road Bus Station to Central Square418 Cromwell Road Bus Station to Epsom Town Centre428 Erith Town Centre / Cross Street to Bluewater463 Coulsdon South Station to Pollards Hill465 Cromwell Road Bus Station to South Street467 Hinchley Wood School to Epsom Town Centre or Epsom Hospital470 Colliers Wood Station to Epsom Town Centre492 Sidcup Station to Bluewater Shopping Centre499 Gallows Corner / Tesco to Stansgate Road Shops626 Dollis Park / Finchley Central Station to Dame Alice Owen's School628 Jewish Free School to Southgate Station631 Golders Green Station to Henrietta Barnett School641 Central Square to Broom Road / Teddington School642 West Hendon to Stanmore653 Princes Avenue to Jewish Free School683 Colney Hatch Lane to Jewish Free School688 Southgate Station to Jewish Free SchoolB12 Erith Town Centre / Riverside to St Mary's RoadB13 Market Place / Bexleyheath Clock Tower to New Eltham Station / Southwood RoadB15 Market Place / Bexleyheath Clock Tower to Horncastle RoadE10 Islip Manor Road to Kent GardensH18 / H19 Harrow Bus Station to Harrow Bus Station circular route. H18: Clockwise, H19: anticlockwiseH2 Golders Green Station to Golders Green Station (via Hampstead Garden Suburb)H3 Golders Green Station to Hill Top (NW11)K5 Dysart Avenue to Morden StationS1 Banstead / Marks & Spencer to Victoria RoadLavender FieldsS3 Sutton Hospital to Malden Manor StationX26 Heathrow Central Bus Station to Whitgift Centre
