Londoners face yet another day of travel chaos on Thursday after it was revealed that talks aimed at resolving the crippling strike will not be held until Friday. Members of the RMT and TSSA unions walked out as of Wednesday evening, leaving millions struggling to navigate around the capital or to and from work.
The 48-hour walkout, which was sparked as a protest at the closing of ticket offices, is scheduled to end at 9pm on Thursday, with a second strike planned for next week unless the deadlock is broke.
The closure of the ticket offices would result in the loss of more than 900 jobs, with London Mayor Boris Johnson steadfastly refusing to meet the Unions unless they ended their industrial action. Acas, which is presiding of the conciliation, said in a statement on Wednesday evening: "The parties in the London Underground dispute have agreed to come in and continue exploratory talks at Acas this Friday, February 7."
Bob Crow, the RMT leader, added: "Our negotiators are geared up and ready to enter the exploratory talks on Friday. In the meantime the current action continues with the rock solid support of our members and we will be back out on the picket lines early tomorrow morning as the strike heads into its third day."