TRANSPORT for London is warning that Underground services will be seriously disrupted as strikes begin tonight.

An indefinite overtime ban also started today, and the RMT has claimed that there has already been some disruption on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line this morning.

‘Most journeys’ will be affected by the strikes, said TfL, although it said it would try to maintain limited services.

The strikes have been called over job losses and reductions of hours at suburban ticket offices.

Separate action started on Sunday night at three Alstom train maintenance depots on the Jubilee and Northern Lines in a dispute over pay.

The RMT and TSSA have called the strikes in protest at the loss of 800 jobs and the transfer of some ticket office staff to frontline roles on concourses and platforms.

TfL has argued that only 1 in 20 passengers are now using ticket offices, because of smartcards, and revealed that the offices at some suburban stations are now only selling ‘a handful’ of tickets each hour. It has also promised that no station will lose its ticket office entirely.

The strikes will affect Underground services on Monday evening and throughout Tuesday. Around 100 extra buses will be in service, and river services will also be boosted. Overground, DLR and tram services should run normally.

Meanwhile, the RMT said that a pay strike of Alstom maintenance staff on the Jubilee and Northern Lines that began at 19.00 on Sunday night was ‘rock solid’, and that pickets had been ‘out in force’ at all three Alstom maintenance depots.

The union also said that it had received reports of disruption and delays on Monday morning to southbound Northern Line services on the northern section of the Edgware branch during the rush hour. However, the TfL website is not showing any problems, with a ‘good service’ reported on all lines at 11.00 on Monday.

TfL has repeated its call for talks to restart, after discussions broke down at the conciliation service Acas last week.