:00:15. > :00:23.Good evening. Talks aimed at resolving the Tube dispute are to be
:00:24. > :00:27.held on Friday, but the strike will still continue tomorrow meaning more
:00:28. > :00:32.disruption for millions of Londoners. The 48`hour walk`out will
:00:33. > :00:36.end tomorrow night with another strike planned for next week. Tom
:00:37. > :00:40.Edwards reports. A miserable commute home for many
:00:41. > :00:46.this evening after an equally miserable trip into work. It is fair
:00:47. > :00:53.enough to strike, but it makes things a bit harder. There were
:00:54. > :01:00.queues at Baker Street just before seven. No Tube, but the buses were
:01:01. > :01:05.already busy. There are twice more people than usual. There were also
:01:06. > :01:10.queues at Stanmore. London Underground had promised some
:01:11. > :01:18.services. Slowly some services did start to run. This was the Victoria
:01:19. > :01:24.line, but 80 stations did not open at all. Everyone was arguing. There
:01:25. > :01:30.were a picket lines from the two unions whose members walked out The
:01:31. > :01:38.unions claim the system was dangerously overcrowded in places.
:01:39. > :01:42.But crowd control measures are in place. At London Bridge some
:01:43. > :01:48.commuters wanted tougher action from the Mayor as he met with TfL
:01:49. > :01:53.ambassadors. They were staff members volunteering to help. Have you
:01:54. > :02:00.oversold the level of service? You had big queues at 7am. We have got
:02:01. > :02:04.eight out of 11 lines running and I want to thank very much everybody
:02:05. > :02:10.who has turned up. Thank you very much for what you are doing for
:02:11. > :02:16.London. I urge everyone else to come and help out. It will be a tough
:02:17. > :02:21.day. The unions claimed only a skeleton service was running.
:02:22. > :02:25.Everyone in London knows there is a problem with the Mayor not talking
:02:26. > :02:29.to trade unions. Everyone in London knows there is a problem regarding
:02:30. > :02:34.industrial relations with London Underground. What they should have
:02:35. > :02:42.done is dealt with this far differently. Commuters have mixed
:02:43. > :02:47.feelings about the strike. There are different ways to sort out a dispute
:02:48. > :02:51.and it is down to dialogue and people talking. Talks have not
:02:52. > :02:55.progressed in the way they could have done. The roads were much
:02:56. > :03:02.busier and there were more cyclists and at my learned buses were full
:03:03. > :03:10.and not able to stop. Six buses have passed so far. This was the cue for
:03:11. > :03:15.the 139 bus. And on the river the birds were also much busier. They
:03:16. > :03:23.started at 6am this morning with the first sailing. The bad news for
:03:24. > :03:31.commuters is they will have to face all of this again tomorrow. Tom is
:03:32. > :03:36.at Warren Street station. What chance is there of ending this
:03:37. > :03:41.dispute at the talks on Friday? There has been movement. ACAS have
:03:42. > :03:47.confirmed those jobs will go ahead on Friday. We have been here
:03:48. > :03:52.before, the issues are still the same. The RMT union said its
:03:53. > :03:56.negotiators are ready to enter exploratory talks. In the meantime,
:03:57. > :04:03.the current action continues. In the last 30 minutes Transport for London
:04:04. > :04:08.has said, why wait until Friday Meet us tomorrow and suspend the
:04:09. > :04:12.strike. I do not think that will happen, but it could be more
:04:13. > :04:19.promising for the plant Tube strikes next week. Today the Prime Minister
:04:20. > :04:24.condemned the strike and Number Ten has said it is looking closely at
:04:25. > :04:27.plans to declare London Underground an essential service to curb the
:04:28. > :04:34.threat of future strikes. Karl Mercer has more.
:04:35. > :04:38.On a day like today you might expect weary Londoners to have a less than
:04:39. > :04:43.charitable view of the union whose action has led to scenes like this.
:04:44. > :04:48.But people were taking leaflets from the strikers and plenty had sympathy
:04:49. > :04:54.with their cause, if not everyone. We are not against you, but you do
:04:55. > :05:01.not strike in today's world. A lot of people are suffering. They should
:05:02. > :05:06.be more consultation with the union about employment changes. At Prime
:05:07. > :05:13.Minister 's question time there was no sitting on the fence. There is no
:05:14. > :05:18.justification for a strike. We need a modernised Tube line working for
:05:19. > :05:23.the millions of Londoners who use it every day. Downing Street said this
:05:24. > :05:27.was unacceptable and we were told the Prime Minister is looking
:05:28. > :05:31.seriously at plans to label the London underground as an essential
:05:32. > :05:37.service which in the future would mean they would have to provide a
:05:38. > :05:41.minimum level of service. The mass transit system has fallen silent and
:05:42. > :05:47.all of this over a dispute over pay and conditions. In New York the
:05:48. > :05:51.subway has only had three strikes in its history because strikes are not
:05:52. > :05:59.allowed. Tonight, the Business Secretary told BBC London he
:06:00. > :06:03.disagreed with changing the law There are many essential services
:06:04. > :06:08.and London Tube is one and there are the police, hospitals and others who
:06:09. > :06:11.would qualify as an essential service. Changing industrial
:06:12. > :06:17.relations law to deal with one particular strike is a bad idea
:06:18. > :06:21.Conservative sources said today they were considering a range of options
:06:22. > :06:26.that may be included in their next election manifesto.
:06:27. > :06:32.Wendy has got the weather and it was not kind to commuters today.
:06:33. > :06:40.Not at all. It has at least stopped raining. The winds will be using a
:06:41. > :06:46.touch as well, but at the moment they are still quite blustery. It is
:06:47. > :06:52.largely dry with clear skies and temperatures between four and six
:06:53. > :06:56.degrees. A bright start to tomorrow, with a noticeable breeze. Then it
:06:57. > :07:02.will start raining from the south and it probably will not stop for 18
:07:03. > :07:07.hours. There is an amber weather warning in Berkshire, Sussex and
:07:08. > :07:13.Kent. By the end of Thursday we could have had another two inches of
:07:14. > :07:19.rain. After that it clears away and there is an interlude on Friday but
:07:20. > :07:25.it turned stormy over the weekend. You can get the latest travel
:07:26. > :07:28.information every 15 minutes on your local radio and we will keep you up
:07:29. > :07:38.to date on the bulletins in breakfast.
:07:39. > :07:45.As you have just heard, the little respite between one storm system and
:07:46. > :07:49.another and it is that cumulative effect which will cause further
:07:50. > :07:53.problems in the coming days with risks of flooding and further damage
:07:54. > :07:54.and destruction. This area