Tube bosses scramble to hush up industrial action

Tube drivers on the Bakerloo line had spent the day refusing to cover the work of axed safety staff, but managers made sure the network's announcements blamed only "operational issues."

The action stems from passenger "overcarries" that have seen more than 3,000 people being accidentally shunted into the capital's Queen's Park sidings last year alone, leading to a 12-year-old boy nearly being killed in October as he walked back past a live rail and moving trains.

Since Tuesday drivers with the RMT and Aslef unions have taken time to walk back through each carriage checking for passengers before moving their trains off the lines into depots or sidings, a job that used to be carried out by dedicated platform staff.

Yet the union says its members in the signalling and control rooms have been barred from rejigging timetables accordingly - instead London Underground has simply notified passengers of "minor delays on the Bakerloo Line due to operational issues."

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said Tube bosses were deliberately misinforming the public about the real extent and nature of the disruption.

"London Underground bosses' responses have meant severe delays on the Bakerloo Line and dangerous overcrowding on platforms as passengers are forced back into ticket halls unable to get on trains.

"London Underground's travelling public are being lied to and abused. Passengers on the Bakerloo Line deserve better."

The action would continue until further notice, he added.

Transport for London's press office did not return requests for comment.