Part-time Night Tube drivers proposed for service

Part-time staff and a salary increase have been offered by London Underground (LU) as a solution to running the new Night Tube service.

A 24-hour operation on five lines had been due to start at weekends on 12 September but it was delayed in a row over staff pay and conditions.

LU has now said a previous three-year pay offer will be extended to a fourth year and it would hire part-time staff.

The RMT, Aslef and TSSA unions have said they are considering the offer.

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They have been seeking assurances on how many night shifts their members would have to work amid concerns it could impact their work-life balance.

Lengthy talks held at the conciliation service Acas have so far failed to make a breakthrough.

LU has now offered to employ part-time staff to cover the shifts with a £500 bonus for all those working on the Night Tube lines - Jubilee, Victoria, Piccadilly, Central and Northern.

The updated offer includes a pay rise of RPI inflation plus 0.25% in year four, as well as an average of 2% and RPI in the first year dropping to 1% plus RPI in years two and three.

But it said the new deal no longer included a £200 bonus per Night Tube shift for drivers.

LU has urged the unions to put the revised deal to their members.

Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer at LU, said: "We have listened to union feedback and have made absolute guarantees which mean no existing driver will have to work the Night Tube, unless they choose to do so. Instead we will hire part-time train drivers.

"We have also been working hard to secure a long-term pay deal in order to provide certainty for our staff and for London, so we are now adding a fourth year to the deal.

"This does not come at any additional cost to the taxpayer as it will be covered by our business plan."

Unions took industrial action during the summer having called for increased pay and a limit on how many all-night shifts their members would be asked to do.