Extinction Rebellion Tube Disruption: Commuters Joke Delays Are Already Standard On London Underground

'Don’t they realise the radical action group Signal Failure have been doing this for years?'
|

Climate change activists Extinction Rebellion held a planned disruption of the London Underground on Wednesday but despite some frustrations, many social media users joked they were unaware of any impact. 

The protest group, which has taken over four sites in the city including Waterloo Bridge, Marble Arch and Oxford Circus, executed what they called “light non-violent disruption” from 11am.

However some commuters thought the action had started much earlier in the day when in fact many of the lines were already severely delayed due to signal failures.  

There were severe delays on the Circle, District, Hammersmith and City lines, and a restricted service on the Overground, leading many social media users to make the same joke. 

One Twitter user Andy Carter tweeted: “Extinction Rebellion: ‘We’re going to f*ck up the tube today’.

“District Line: ‘Hold my beer...’”

He was not the only one to point out the irony.

When the action began, two protesters climbed on the roof of a DLR train at Canary Wharf station.

The campaigners, a man and a woman, said they were staging a “peaceful protest”, and were planning to glue themselves to the train.

They stood holding a banner with “climate emergency” written on it.

TFL said the stunt caused only minor delays.

The number of arrests made connected to the demonstrations has risen to more than 300, Scotland Yard said.

The force said it was now “in the process of moving demonstrators on Waterloo Bridge” and “those that do not comply may be arrested”.

Extinction Rebellion has claimed police cells in the capital are full and “operating on a one-in, one-out capacity”.

On Wednesday afternoon, three police vans arrived on the bridge and campaigners formed a line in order to brace themselves for further arrests.

But the Metropolitan Police has said it has “contingency plans in place” should they run out of space.

Organisers said the rail protest has been designed to encourage people to take a moment to reflect on the damage done to the environment.

“This action is called ‘The Pause’ - our aim is to create moments in time when humanity stops and fully considers the extent of the harm we have done and are doing to life on earth,” a statement read.

Open Image Modal
Reuters

Earlier on Wednesday commuters noticed they were unable to log in to Wifi while travelling by tube. The British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed it had been switched off due to the planned protest.

A statement from BTP said: “In the interests of safety and to prevent and deter serious disruption to the London Underground network, British Transport Police has taken the decision to restrict passenger WiFi connectivity at Tube stations.”

Protester and climate lawyer Farhana Yamin, who was arrested on Tuesday, earlier told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “I totally want to apologise to people who have been using public transport… but at the same time we need to take actions that are disruptive and the reason for that is to make sure that everyone understands the dangers we are facing now.

“It’s taken reluctantly but I feel that people should understand that we are at such a critical moment in humanity’s history.

“I think it’s an opportunity for people who are affected to maybe take a pause in their lives and to think what have we come to at this point that people are taking this kind of action, why is this necessary?”

Meanwhile, four Extinction Rebellion protesters glued themselves together outside Jeremy Corbyn’s north London home in what they said was a bid to get the Labour leader to commit to tackling climate change.

The activists said they are “all Jeremy Corbyn supporters” but want the Labour Party to go further than declaring a “climate emergency”. Another chained herself to Corbyn’s garden fence with a bike lock.