XR protesters will target the Tube on Thursday (Picture: PA)

Extinction Rebellion protesters will try to bring the London Underground to a halt on Thursday.

The climate activist group has announced it is going to expand its protest to the Tube service and has warned workers ‘to not intervene’.

A statement directed at London Underground Staff on its website says: ‘On 17 October, several XR affinity groups (autonomous civil disobedience groups) are planning to non-violently disrupt Tube services to highlight the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

‘We sincerely apologise to all those who may be affected as a consequence of this disruption.


‘In any other circumstances these groups would never dream of disrupting the Tube but this is an emergency.’

A city worker crosses the street as protesters block the road in front of the Bank of England in the City of London today (Picture: PA)

A police officer tries to remove a woman after she attached herself with an adhesive to the building of Department of Transport (Picture: Reuters)

XR said it hoped the action would force the Government to come to the table and negotiate its demands and warned disruption would rapidly increase the longer protests continued.



The statement also claimed the police and RMT union had been told about the action in order to ensure it was carried out peacefully.

XR added: ‘The actions have been designed to be as safe as possible for both participants, passengers and workers.

‘Participants will peacefully break the law in order to stop the Tube and then will wait to be arrested.’

Transport for London (TfL) has advised commuters to allow plenty of time for their journeys and check before they travel on Thursday.

A spokesperson said: ‘We are aware that there are demonstrations planned to take place in the capital, which could cause disruption to the transport network.

‘We’re working closely with the police to manage the impact on London’s transport network.

‘We would encourage people to allow plenty of time for their journeys and check before they travel.’

Protesters block the road in front of the Bank of England (Picture: PA)

XR co-founder Gail Bradbrook was arrested after trying to smash windows at the transport ministry as other protesters were told to leave their London camps or face arrest (Picture: Reuters)

Assistant Chief Constable Sean O’Callaghan said: ‘We will be stepping up resources across the London Underground network this week in response to the potential Extinction Rebellion protest activity on Thursday 17 October.

‘Passengers can expect to see a high number of additional officers on duty across the network, and we will be working closely with our colleagues at Transport for London, City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

‘We also remain hopeful that we will be able to engage with Extinction Rebellion before the planned activity on Thursday, so we can reiterate the serious dangers of attempting to bring Underground trains to a halt above or below ground.

‘Our highly visible patrols are there to facilitate peaceful protest, but we will not tolerate any sort of activity which disrupts the journeys of the millions of Londoners using the Underground who rely on using the network every day.

‘We will take firm and robust action to ensure any offenders who choose to ignore this advice will be arrested and prosecuted – and in the case of several people who have chosen to disrupt the railway this year – receive custodial sentences.

‘As always, the travelling public are our eyes and ears and I’d encourage anyone that who does see anything suspicious to contact us as soon as possible by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40.’



Meanwhile, XR protest action is continuing in London despite police ordering activists to end their gatherings across the capital or risk arrest.

XR’s co-founder Gail Bradbrook was arrested outside the Department for Transport where XR are protesting against proposed high-speed rail project HS2.

Police moved in to clear Trafalgar Square on Monday evening, telling protesters to leave the site by 9pm.

This morning, Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said the protest ban was brought in after ‘continued breaches’ of the condition limiting the demonstration to Trafalgar Square.

Lawyers questioned whether the ban, made under public order legislation already used to restrict the action to Trafalgar Square, was legal.

Anti-Brexit barrister Jo Maugham QC said the move was ‘a huge overreach’ of police powers, while human rights lawyer Adam Wagner called it ‘draconian and extremely heavy-handed’.

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