Heathrow Express strike saw service halved, but jump in passengers

More than 50,000 passengers travelled on the Heathrow Express between central London and the airport during the strike – nearly 50 per cent more than usual.

While the London Underground was badly disrupted by the RMT industrial action, the Express managed to run trains every 30 minutes with a just a third of its work force.

The service normally runs every 15 minutes, carrying an average of 34,000 customers to and from Paddington in a two-day period. But this figure rose to 50,000 during the 48-hour walk-out in spite of the less frequent service.

Managing Director Keith Greenfield said he was “proud” of saving so many people from “hours of road chaos and extortionate taxi fares”.

But he stressed the strike had cost the company money which would have to be recouped through restructuring and pay restraint.

He added: “Being able to take so many people to and from Heathrow, many of whom were visitors to Britain unaware of the RMT strike, was a great achievement made possible by a tremendous team effort.

“But despite increased customer numbers this strike has cost the company money. This cost will be added to the £6million in operational savings we need to make between now and the end of 2018.

“This will come as no surprise to the RMT Executive. We warned them that if they called a strike it would inevitably result in a worse outcome for their members.

“We meant what we said. Our very reasonable revised pay offer, which included annual lump sum payments and guarantees on pay until 2016, is now off the table. We are back to the drawing board.

“When they decide they want to talk rather than strike we will be happy to resume a dialogue. But if they strike again, it is their own members who ultimately will lose out.