Women Left Angry And Afraid As Tube Strike Forces Them To Walk Home At Night

Millions of people were plunged into travel chaos this week, as London tube staff embarked upon two 24-hour strikes which led to days of cancelled and disrupted services in the capital across three days.

But for many who use the tube as their only mode of travel, being without transport travelling to and from home has been more than inconvenient - it's been unsafe, too.

This week, on the anniversary of Sarah Everard's murder, women have been taking to Twitter in anger over the strikes. Many have been forced to walk in the dark alone, for hours, due to a lack of tube services, explaining they can't afford to get a taxi or stay in a hotel.

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One woman wrote on Twitter: "Well it’s just taken me 2 hours to get home from work. I finished my shift at 11pm in central London.

"Never been so terrified travelling home alone, in the dark, at gone midnight, walking down deserted streets to bus stops with very little street lighting. Feared for my safety more than once, and all because I couldn’t do my usual 30 minute tube journey home.

"Taxis and hotels are obviously an option but only if I want to spend ALL of the wages I’ve just earned by going to work in the first place. Not good enough."

A second said: "The fact I’m live sharing my location on WhatsApp [because] I’m walking like 45 minutes to my station bc of the tube strike lol hate walking alone in London."

And a third added: "Absolutely support people’s right to strike but f**k me, those with the power to implement changes aren’t the ones walking around the ass end of London alone in the evening with their phones on full show, following CityMapper, just to try and get to work."

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One person added: "Can’t help but think during today’s tube strike: I could afford an Uber today getting across London... But there will be women and girls walking the streets home tonight who can’t, at risk, a year on from the murder of Sarah Everard. Why oh why?"

Another said: "There is very little investment in women’s safety. Barely any cameras, badly lit roads, hardly any security on the streets. TFL strikes mean no night tube."

One person asked: "What is a measure of success for your strike this week? Is it successful when: More than 20,000 women feel unsafe when walking home in the dark? More than 100,000 miss the beginning of their shifts? More than 5,000 business have yet another day without revenue?"

This week's action has led to widespread chaos across the capital, after 10,000 RMT union members walked in a dispute over jobs and pensions.

The union's general secretary Mick Lynch said: "The funding crisis at TfL which is at the heart of this dispute is not of our making and our members are not prepared to take a hammering to pay for it.

"This week we have seen workers fighting back across London against attacks on themselves and their colleagues from political machinations that are out of their control."

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Meanwhile Andy Lord, Transport for London's chief operating officer, said: "Services will be severely impacted until mid-morning on Friday because of a number of factors, including the placement of drivers and trains following a day without service.

"I apologise to customers for this and understand they will be frustrated by this strike action, but urge them not to take it out on those who are trying to help.

"We haven't proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has lost or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out, so this action is completely unnecessary."

Tyla has reached out to TfL, as well as the RMT for comment.

Topics: News

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot.

@lucedevine