Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder.

Here we are.

There we are, that's Transport for London telling you what is happening.

I'm outside Waterloo Underground Station, actually on the concourse at Waterloo

Overground Station. And from Sunday evening, the 7th of January, right through to Friday morning

the 12th of January, there will not be in the words of the kinks millions of people swarming like flies around Waterloo Underground,

because we have another strike involving members of the RMT Union.

The Transport for London Management have offered them a 5% pay rise, which they say is full and final.

Compared with that, the RMT union says it is insufficient

that bosses are being unduly rewarded while the passengers are expected to, while the staff are expected to

work for insufficient cash. Caught in the middle, as always, is the passenger.

And just to give you a picture of where we are,

there has been widespread disruption here at London Waterloo on the trains.

At Great Western Railway's main London hub across at London Paddington,

it has been awful with cancellations pretty much from Thursday evening,

partly due to flooding on a number of lines,

partly due to sadly a fatality west of Reading Station.

So it is today the fifth day in a row since the start of the year when we have seen major disruption.

There's also various problems, for instance, between Charing Cross and Hastings.

So lots and lots of disruption and now we're going to get more.

And just to give you some idea of

what's going to be happening the RMT union is doing what i guess as left did last time when they

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