The Scotsman on yesterday's Lothian Buses strike
Travellers were forced to make alternative arrangements and city retailers were left counting the cost after 1,400 drivers with Lothian Buses stayed away from work.
With no sign of any agreement, there are fears a planned strike for the weekend of 30-31 July could hit business hard, affecting more than 300,000 daily passenger journeys in and around Edinburgh and the region.
Lothian Buses and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) last night remained split over the latest pay offer. Drivers have been offered a 5 per cent pay increase by management but are demanding a 6 per cent rise.
The TGWU said strike action was a last resort, while Lothian Buses said it regretted the disruption caused. A spokesman for the firm said: "Our door is open as we await the union visiting us."
Peter Williamson, the TGWU branch chairman, said: "It is a sad day that it has had to come to this, but we have made numerous attempts to sort the problem out before getting to this stage. Bus drivers are currently paid around £8.48 an hour. We are asking for £9 and we believe that is affordable."
The city centre was noticeably quieter than usual and some retailers saw losses of about 10 per cent.
Fiona Moriarty, the director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "We hope this strike is resolved soon, as there are a lot of people who travel into city-centre shops by bus because they are cheap and convenient. People don't just come into town to shop; they also go for meals, pubs and to the cinema so there are many who will lose out over that weekend - it's of great concern."
It was a good day for cabbies as taxis enjoyed one of their busiest days of the year with some companies recording a 25 per cent increase in fares. Local train services also saw a rise in numbers. While there were more cars on the road in the morning rush-hour, delays were limited to about ten minutes on the worst roads - including the Forth Road Bridge and Telford Road.
From today, an overtime ban means Lothian Buses' services will now run on a Saturday timetable. Mr Williamson said the strike on 30-31 July would go ahead if the wage demands were not met.
City council officials said motorists had taken advantage of the suspended bus lane and parking charges in the city, put in place to alleviate problems. However, remaining bus companies which normally have exclusive use of the greenways urged the council to rethink plans to open them up to all motorists during the strikes.
Donald Anderson, the leader of the city council, said the move would be upheld on grounds that at least 85 per cent of buses on Edinburgh's streets were Lothian buses.
Supposed to be a rest day, again
Today was another bad day. What i want to know is, what happy swine calls it a REST day ? It was quite clearly the hottest day of the year, as was yesterday before it, and both hotter than London last Saturday!
Anyway, I'd been concerned about some blood escaping from part of my body where it should not have been. Remember I said Friday I felt unusally ill ? Well, five days now, so phoned the docs, fearing the worst. I went in for 1620, only after a mad-dash for the 17 along West Marketgait (if the passenger hadn't been VERY slow and held the bus back for me, I'd never have made it...). Anyway, apparently nothing to worry about, but a referral to Ninewells to be issued to check it out. Fine, so I came home, and hoped to be able to get on with the remainder of the day.
With that out the way, it would give me a chance to call (tommorrow) one of my creditors who are almost paid... without mentioning names, they didn't send me a book for council tax until two years after I moved in here, and then demanded all at once... etc. long story since then... and I'd almost got it paid off too. So I though... but they came by tonight... and it's well into four figures. It's now five times what it was before. No idea how that happened, well not yet, but I think I can guess. The line "this statement may not include all monies owed..." I won't say any more on it for now, but wth working a few less hours now, it's going to be a difficult one. Blood and stone spring to mind.
So, I'd finally got over that, just a few hours later... all the lights go off. Now, the meter was fed before I left for London, and afterwards. Check the fuses - all well. Check the meter - dead, no lights or display. Go downstairs to check the fuses - no screwdriver, but an office drawer locker key works! Have a look - new switches since last time, which I cannot get into. Call out the electricity company. They promise to get someoen to call me back. And they do.
They also promise he wil be here soon. He got to the junction, and went the wrong way... He then ended up calling me later, via the office, and he was on the other side of the dual carriageway. For him to get to me, he has to pass me (standing at the end of my road, which is a dead-end) twice (on the dual carriageway) before he loops back round. After some detection, he has to go and find the power board, which turns out to be in Salem Street. More round and round. My lights go on. My lights go off. My lights come back on again. The landlord returns, just as the electricity person comes back to finish off and check all is well. I get upstairs, and nothing plugged into the mains is working... fuse has tripped my side... reset... finally works. Another two hours plus out my day, by the time I get everything back as it was.
I should really think of a witty response to this, but i'm worn out. That's the polite version!
Lothian Buses industrial action
Lothian Buses have announced their TGWU staff are to hold further one day strikes and an indefinite overtime ban. The official webpage says "The TGWU have called one day strikes by Lothian Buses' drivers, on Monday 18, Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 July 2005. An indefinite overtime ban has also been called, commencing on Sunday 17 July. As a result, the service changes due to be introduced on Sunday 17 July have been postponed until a later date. On all Mondays to Fridays from Tuesday 19 July, a SATURDAY service will operate. (Public holiday timetables will run on services 20 & X47). We will do all we can to minimise any inconvenience to passengers during this period of strikes/industrial action."
A STRIKE by bus drivers is set to cripple the Capital's public transport system, after Lothian Buses was unable to resolve a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Drivers have voted to hold three days of strikes this month, with a one-day strike on July 18 and a two-day strike over the weekend of July 30 and 31. They have also voted to stop working overtime from July 17, while the possibility of further strikes has not been ruled out if the situation has not been resolved. The unions are seeking a flat 6.1 per cent rise and say all previous offers have been tied to unacceptable conditions.
The employment mediation service Acas had been called in by the company in a bid to resolve the dispute. But despite that, and a revised pay offer that would see drivers paid a basic hourly rate of £9, they have opted to press ahead with strike action. The Transport and General Workers Union balloted 1400 Lothian Buses drivers. An overwhelming 82 per cent said they supported industrial action. The offer would have given drivers an increase of four per cent in the first six months of the year, backdated to April 3, 2005, and a 6.15 per cent rise for the second six months of the year, starting on October 2, in return for more flexible working conditions.
It is understood the latest offer was also tied to conditions about working hours and holiday pay, which the TGWU said was unacceptable. Sandy Smart, regional industrial organiser at the TGWU, said: "The problem we have always had is that they want to tie any improvement in pay to a change in working condition, which is unacceptable." The strength of feeling amongst the drivers has been shown by the size of the vote for a strike."
This time, make no doubt about it, the passengers will be suffering. Why? Because the service changes have been postponed. These included the introduction of the Scottish Executive funded improvements on the 31 amongst other routes, as well as new Park & Ride facilites at Ingilston and Hermiston. The changes also saw a planned extension of the 24 to run through end-to-end on Saturdays and during peak times as well as the current off-peak service - ironically enough, as the change has been postponed, the Saturday service will not be able to start until afterwards! The full list of service changes - all now postponed until further notice - are as follows...
NIGHT BUSES From 0000hrs 17 July 2005
NEW N11 - same as daytime 11 between Ocean Terminal & Hyvots Bank then to Ferniehill.
NEW N31 - same as daytime 31 between East Craigs & Bonnyrigg then to Brixwold, Newtongrange & Mayfield roundabout.
REVISED
N8 - Extended via one way loop to Caravan Park & Silverknowes. Extended from Royal Infirmary to Ferniehill, Gilmerton & Hyvots Bank (replacing withdrawn N33).Through journeys are available between new N11 & revised N8 at Ferniehill/Hyvots Bank.
N16 - Revised timetable.
N26 - Extended to Port Seton.
N27 - Extended to Canonmills, Inverleith, Crewe Toll & Muirhouse. Terminates in Hunter's Tryst (see N11 for Night Buses to Fairmilehead & Kaimes).
N37 - Serves Omni Cinema & Leith Street on journeys TO Penicuik.
**********************************************************************
CHANGES TO YOUR BUSES FROM 17 JULY 2005
NEW for Gogarburn (new RBS HQ)
X12 – NEW peak period express bus from Leith Links, City Centre, Haymarket & Maybury to Gogarburn.
2, 12 – peak period buses extended from Gyle Centre.
21, 24A, 35 – some peak period journeys extended to Gogarburn.
NEW INGLISTON Park & Ride Just off the A8/Airport junction.
Served by NEW X48 express service: Ingliston – Maybury – City Centre. Frequent departures every day — special fare £1 adult, 60p child each way. Ridacards, Daytickets, Concession fares & passes valid.
NEW HERMISTON Park & Ride Just off A71/City by-pass junction.
Served by:
NEW X25 express service: Riccarton – Hermiston – City Centre. Runs peak period — normal fares apply.
25 – City Centre via Gorgie.
34 – City Centre via Slateford.
**********************************************************************
Changes to your buses from 17 July 2005
11 – Journeys to Kaimes will be extended to Hyvots Bank. Buses will no longer link up to service 31.
21 – daytime buses will extend from Duke Street to serve Leith Links.
24 – New peak period and Saturday buses will be introduced linking Davidson's Mains, Comely Bank and City Centre.
31 – EXTRA BUSES FOR BONNYRIGG! Current daytime & evening journeys to Kaimes & Fairmilehead will instead serve Lasswade, Bonnyrigg High Street and Bonnyrigg (Cockpen Road). This will give an increased frequency to Bonnyrigg.
45 – revised timetable.
Minor timetable changes: 1, 5, 16, 27, 32
The morning after...
Now it's happened, and there is no getting away from it. The city in which I used to live, and the system on which I used to work, has lost some fine people, taken from us at the hands of the terrorists. After last night's post, I went for a lie-down for a bit, and spoke to a friend from NY, who remembers what happened when the terrorists bombed the US in 2001. Jay, once again honey, you were wonderful ;-)
In a mix of curiosity, concern, and being half-asleep, I've booked for tonight's Megabus (I've not got time to get a booking on NatEx, and there web doesn't do my plastic), to head down to see what I can see. I'm not going for a gore-fest - forty eight hours on that should be obvious - but hopefully the day can work out well.
As a result, Saturday's semi-planned expedition to Fife, some TITP stuff, Kinross, and the "new" Fife 204 (now extended to run Vane Farm - Kinross - Dollar) will need to wait. I've got about a year for the latter, and one of those Wednesdays or Saturdays I am sure I will be off.
This morning started weirdly enough. Had to go via the Doctors on the way to work, to attempt to pick up a medical report part two... long story... suffice to say, mobile outed and a conference ensuing in the background between me, the docs, and the agency... never mind... while waiting for a few moments, popped to the loo and was severly ill... I hope that is a one-off... Should I mention it? Nah, lets wait and see.
Friday night we had 50136, and the duplicate was 50128, which ran from Perth (Broxden) to London, not Glasgow. The "luggage enforcer" (who is apparently called Donald) did well in turfing four people off the bus for being drunk, but they would have never have been caught if they had not ignored the instructions not to leave the bus... it was for security, see... We left Glasgow 45 minutes late. Anyway, if you can sleep, night night! (I was actually asleep before the border).
London, 07/07/2005
The worst has happened. The day I had to deal with a one-under (passenger under a train) doesn't even come close to this - although on that day, everyone kind of felt similar.
For those who don't know, bombs exploded across London's buses and trains this morning, right in the morning peak.
From This Is London
At least 37 people were killed in a series of terrorist blasts in London today, police said.
Seven people died in the first blast in a Tube tunnel 100yds from Liverpool Street Station, 21 died in a blast at between King's Cross and Russell Square and seven died at Edgware Road station in an explosion involving three trains.
There were also at least two deaths in a bus blast in Upper Woburn Square
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said no warnings were given and no claims of responsibility have been received by the police.
The co-ordinated blasts which happened over the space of 60 minutes in the rush hour were condemned by Tony Blair as "barbaric".
The terrorist onslaught was unleashed on the day that G8 world leaders met at Gleneagles.
A group calling itself the Secret Organization Group of al Qaida of Jihad Organization in Europe claimed responsibility for the attacks on an Islamic website.
The message said: "O nation of Islam and nation of Arabism: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge from the British Zionist Crusader Government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The heroic mujahidin have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror, and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters."
The outrage echoed the al Qaida assault on Madrid commuters in 2004 in which almost 200 people died.
In the wake of the London attacks, survivors gave harrowing accounts of the carnage, describing piles of bodies on wrecked Tube trains and a bus which was torn to pieces along with its passengers.
The day of death and chaos prompted the Prime Minister to vow that the terrorists would never win.
"Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and other civilised nations in the world," he said.
Mr Blair left the G8 gathering for London in the wake of the attacks, but said the summit would go on.
Before he left, the G8 leaders appeared side-by-side with Mr Blair to condemn the "barbaric" attacks.
As the scale of the attack became clear, ministers attending the regular Thursday cabinet meeting convened an emergency Cobra committee to deal with the crisis.
The terror attacks began at 8.51am when the bomb exploded in the tunnel near Liverpool Street station, killing seven.
At 8.56am, 21 people died in a blast in a tunnel between King's Cross and Russell Square.
At 9.17am, five people died when a blast ripped through a tunnel wall at Edgware Road station, damaging three trains.
Exactly 30 minutes later at 9.47am a blast tore the roof off the red number 30 double decker bus, packed with commuters forced above ground after the Tube network had been shut down.
Police have not yet released the number of fatalities but eyewitnesses spoke of carnage at the scene.
Two hours later paramedics were still rushing to the scene of the King's Cross blast deep underground on the Piccadilly line.
At Liverpool Street Station in the City, the wounded were treated by medics as they lay on the concourse.
It was the same at King's Cross while the Hilton Metropole on the Edgware Road was used as a makeshift treatment centre.
The bus blast occurred only a few hundred yards from Russell Square station.
London was thrown into chaos in the wake of the blasts with shops, banks and offices closing and thousands of people left stranded on the streets as mainline stations were shut and Tube and bus services cancelled.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said there was evidence of explosives at at least one of the explosion sites.
Police said it was too early to say whether they had been caused by planted explosive devices, or whether they were the work of suicide bombers.
The blasts were initially blamed on a power surge but it soon became clear that it was a co-ordinated terrorist attack on the capital.
The G8 gathering had prompted fears of a terrorist spectacular.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke told a sombre House of Commons the blasts were "criminal and appalling acts".
Speaking at Gleneagles, US President George Bush vowed that the terrorists would be brought to justice.
The Queen spoke of her shock at the "dreadful events in London this morning".
Respect MP George Galloway said Londoners had "paid the price" for Tony Blair's decision to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He called on the Prime Minister to withdraw the British troops from Iraq in order to remove people in the UK from "harm's way".
All London hospitals were put on major incident alert after the explosions. Neighbouring counties also sent emergency aid to London.
Metropolitan Police officers in Scotland for the G8 summit were urgently redeployed to London.
Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: "There is no doubt it is a terrorist incident."
He said the bomb which ripped through the bus in Tavistock Square had exploded in the "back of the upper part of the bus".
He refused to confirm or deny reports that the explosion was the work of a suicide bomber.
An eyewitness described seeing dead bodies lying in the street after the bus bomb.
The security guard at the nearby London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine said the blast completely blew the bus apart.
Mr Ayobami Bello, 46, said he had visited a bank nearby and was only 30 metres from the bus when it exploded.
He said: "It was terrible. The bus went to pieces. There were so many bodies on the floor.
"The back was completely gone, it was blown off completely and a dead body was hanging out and there were dead bodies on the road, it was a horrible thing."
He said other bodies sat slumped in their bus seats, some with arms and legs missing.
He said: "I can't believe it, I can't even believe I survived it.
"There was panic and everyone was running for their lives. I saw a lady coming towards me soaked in blood. Everyone was in confusion."
Survivors of the Tube blasts described scenes of total chaos.
Simon Corvett, 26, from Oxford, was on the eastbound train leaving Edgware Road Tube station when the explosion happened.
He said: "All of sudden there was this massive huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered.
"The glass did not actually fall out of the windows, it just cracked.
"The train came to a grinding halt, everyone fell off their seats."
Mr Corvett, who works in public relations, said the commuter train was absolutely packed.
"There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke," he said.
"You couldn't really breathe and you couldn't see what was happening. The driver came on the Tannoy and said 'We have got a problem, don't panic'."
Mr Corvett, whose face was covered in soot, joined other passengers to force open the train doors with a fire extinguisher.
He said the carriage on the other track was destroyed.
"You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted," he added.
"There were some people in real trouble."
Capital FM are (like on 9/11) doing a message board for those wanting to pass on word - check www.capitalfm.com if you are worried about someone on the capital. I'd warn you, some of the messages are somewhat emotional.Transport for London's statement...
14:25 Transport for London Update
Latest information confirms that there were four incidents on London's transport network this morning, three on London Underground and one on London Buses.
At 09:46, the London Underground was suspended and all stations commenced evacuation following incidents at: Aldgate station heading towards Liverpool Street station on the Hammersmith & City line; Russell Square station heading towards Kings Cross station on the Piccadilly line; and Edgware Road station heading towards Paddington station on the Hammersmith & City line.
Zone 1 bus services were temporarily suspended this morning following an incident on a Route 30 bus at Woburn Place and extra security checks were undertaken on buses remaining in operation and at all garages.
Emergency services responded immediately to all incidents and are dealing with a number of casualties who have been taken to hospitals across London. Unfortunately, whilst we can confirm that there have been fatalities no confirmed figures are currently available.
Additional temporary service suspensions and public information
The Docklands Light Railway has been suspended as a precaution - there have been no incidents on the DLR network.
Drivers are advised not to come into Central London
As I type this, most buses are back, DLR is not stopping at tube interchanges, but tubes will return tommorrow morning. The lines bombed are doubtful though.
The terrorist group who claimed responsibility initally - their claim does not make sense, as two of the bombs exploded at Aldgate and Edgware Road, typically Muslim settlements. The head of the Met Police even said that Muslim's would distance themselves from this, and usually more than one agency admits responsibility. The fact that the incident was timed to see the first day of G8 - when over 1,500 members of the Met were at Gleneagles - cannot be overlooked. There is a strong rumour that a suicide bomber at Canaary Wharf was shot by a Met sniper - solidly denied at this afternoon's press conference - but CW was the target of bombers last time. Hopefully, it will never happen, but that building has had too many close calls. Speaking of 9/11, Mayor Julianni was not very far away from Liverpool Street station when the bomb exploded. The Stagecoach owned Dennis Trident on the 30 is now beyond all repair, and the strength of the bomb blew a seat into nearby houses. Thoughts are with everyone at Stratford depot at their loss - and remember, this is just yards from the Waterden Road where a "fun" open day was a few weeks ago. Finally, the PM is giving condolensces to all involved. Maybe next time the public tell you "no more war for oil", maybe you'll listen.
