Last-minute talks held to avert strikes by London Underground (LU) workers in Britain have collapsed. Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members are now set to walk out for 48 hours from 9pm tonight, bringing chaos to the British capital.
A 72-hour strike is also planned for the same time next week. Tubes and other transport network services in London are expected to be hit too.
Monday's negotiations followed a deadlock last week, as the union held firm against ticket office closures and potential job losses. LU said only 3% of tickets are now sold at ticket offices and wants more staff on concourses.
The number of tickets sold over counters is expected to drop further, once contactless bank cards can be used to pay at barriers.
Development of smartphone payment technology will also see a reduction in ticket office revenue.
RMT acting general secretary Mick Cash said "London Underground have dug themselves into an entrenched position and have refused to move one inch from their stance of closing every ticket office, in breach of the agreement reached previously through ACAS which enabled us to suspend the previous round of action".
"Despite the spin from LU nothing that they are proposing is about 'modernisation'. The current plans, closing every ticket office and axing nearly 1,000 safety-critical jobs, is solely about massive austerity cuts driven centrally by (UK Prime Minister) David Cameron and his government and implemented by (London) Mayor Boris Johnson".
'Leadership is set against modernisation'
He added "I urge the RMT to call off this pointless strike and get back round the table with London Underground and the three other unions who've chosen not to strike. It seems the RMT leadership is set against modernisation and has no fresh ideas of its own".
Prior to the strike announcement, LU said the RMT was demanding the withdrawal of long-standing voluntary redundancy arrangements.
Managing director Mike Brown said earlier "The RMT leadership are making this up on the hoof. Suddenly, they want to unilaterally tear up the long-established and collectively agreed option of voluntary redundancy, throwing into question the plans of over 650 staff who have chosen to leave us. The RMT leadership has also failed to take on board the significant changes we have made to our original proposals".
Strike action also hit commuters in the first week of February, with a second strike called off after negotiations amid a wave of flooding in the Thames Valley.
The strike that went ahead caused chaos - with bus and Overground services struggling to cope with the extra demand and many roads gridlocked.
The Tube handles around 3.5 million passenger journeys every day, rising to more than 4 million during busy periods.
