TUBE UNION RMT today demanded an immediate halt to the London Underground cuts programme as new documents released the union show that 30.5% of stations have been scheduled to be unstaffed during operational hours – a direct contradiction of the speech given by Mayor Boris Johnson at the Tory Party conference in October last year where he said that staffing cuts would leave “no station unstaffed at any time.”

RMT research into the latest LU operational plans shows that of 249 LU managed stations 76 (30.5%) are scheduled to be unstaffed in the future for “part of the traffic day” which means during passenger hours.

RMT is aware that the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) have written to London Underground saying that unstaffed stations must be isolated incidents, not an everyday occurrence and not a part of normal working practice – a position flatly contradicted by LU’s latest operational plans. RMT also believes that the planning for over 30% of stations to run unstaffed during passenger hours breaches LU’s Safety Certificate and Authorisation Document.

As well as the Mayor, his Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy, his Transport Advisor Kulveer Ranger, LU Managing Director Mike Brown and LU Chief Operating Officer Howard Collins have all told the media that despite the tube cuts “all stations will be staffed at all time” – statements now exposed by the RMT as totally bogus.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“The time for the lies and misleading statements about the true impact of the tube cuts must now come to an end as the harsh reality is now laid out in black and white – nearly a third of London’s tube stations will be left unstaffed for part of the working day if these cuts plans aren’t brought to a halt. These aren’t the RMT’s figures – they come direct from LU’s own operational documents.

“As fares are jacked up through the roof this week travellers can see that they will be expected to pay through the nose for a vastly inferior and dangerous service as unstaffed tube stations are turned into a criminal’s paradise.

“It was the Mayor Boris Johnson who told the Tory conference that no station would be unstaffed at any time. Either he wasn’t aware of what his officials were up to or he was lying through his teeth. Either way he should call a halt to the lethal cocktail of jobs and maintenance cuts right now.”