Strikes and big paydays on London Transport

A couple of stories today illustrate the crazy world of London tranpsort. First the RMT union has voted for another strike, this time by its Tube engineers, which the union says will paralyse the Underground system. Thoughtfully they’ve timed it for the school Easter holidays when thousands of parents will be trying to bring their kids into town to see the sights of London. Has there ever been a group of workers with more grievances than those that work on the London Underground.

The second is about Bob Kiley, the American former commissioner of Transport for London(TfL)who left the post in January 2006. This guy must have Sven Goran Eriksson’s agent because he had a multi-million pound salary, got a £2million severance package when he left, still lives rent free in a townhouse in Belgravia, just about the most expensive part of London, and picks up £3,200 a day as a ‘consultant’ for TfL.

What’s funnier is that in an interview today he says ‘If you ask me what I actually do to earn my consultancy, I’d have to tell you, in all honesty, ‘not much’. ‘ You have to commend him for his honesty but when the council tax gets ramped up by another 4.5% like it did this month he’ll understand if people are a little pissed off.