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Londoners have been breathing a sigh of relief following the news that a tube strike planned for this weekend has been suspended.

Around 1,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were due to walk out for three days over the weekend of the FA Cup final.

But the union announced on Tuesday that the walkout had been cancelled after London Underground called off plans to cut tube train inspections and preparations.

The strike was set to be the latest in a string of walkouts to hit the capital over the past few years, with industrial action affecting commuters and tourists who rely on the underground to get around.

With millions of passenger journeys made each day, The Standard takes a look at how much tube drivers earn, what hours they work and what their responsibilities are.

London Underground in pictures 9 show all London Underground in pictures 1/9 Stratford Station Transport for London 2/9 Baker Street Station Transport for London 3/9 Waterloo Station Transport for London 4/9 Escalator at Angel Station Transport for London 5/9 Stratford Station Transport for London 6/9 London Underground platform Transport for London 7/9 Tube carriage Transport for London 8/9 Crowded walkway at Stratford at the close of the 2012 Games Transport for London 9/9 Tube roundel at Kings Cross St Pancras station Transport for London

How much do tube drivers earn?

The average base pay of a Tube driver is £55,011 while night tube drivers earn around half of that as their position is part time.

During training, which lasts 12-16 weeks, trainee drivers earn £32,375 during their training,.

Drivers also get free travel around London for them and a partner, and can retire on a pension at the age of 50.

Overtime rates are around £36 an hour.

However, it was revealed last year that some Tube drivers are paid more than £100,000 a year.

Documents released to the Sunday Times show the highest paid driver in the year to November received £103,374, while nine were paid upwards of £100,000.

The FoI responses, from Transport for London (TfL), showed that nine drivers were paid more than £100,000; another 30 made more than £80,000, and 100 were paid £70,000 to £80,000.

Most drivers, more than 3,000, were paid between £60,000 and £70,000, and 900 drivers - mainly part-timers or those who left during the year - received less than £60,000.

London Underground through the years - In pictures 53 show all London Underground through the years - In pictures 1/53 1968 A London Underground official drinking a cup of coffee during trials of new automatic trains on a section of the Central Line. The trains are intended for use on the newly opened Victoria underground line Getty Images 2/53 1862 Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone with directors and engineers of the Metropolitan Railway Company on an inspection tour of the world's first underground line, 24th May 1862. Built between Paddington and the City of London, it opened in January of the following year. Gladstone is seen in the front row, near right. Getty Images 3/53 circa 1900 An early underground train on the Central London Railway, opened in 1900, which eventually became the Central Line. This engine could be driven in both directions Getty Images 4/53 1907 Golders Green station under construction in north London. The station, completed the following June, was originally on the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway, which is now part of London Underground's Northern Line Getty Images 5/53 circa 1911 The interior of a District Line Underground carriage Getty Images 6/53 1912 The platform of the Central London Railway extension at Liverpool Street Station Getty Images 7/53 circa 1912 Workmen removing a concrete wall during construction of the Central line extension to Bank, on London's Underground Rail network Getty Images 8/53 1912 The ticket hall of Liverpool Street station, London Getty Images 9/53 circa 1920 The interior of an all-steel London underground train Getty Images 10/53 1922 A London Underground train being decorated with foliage for Christmas Getty Images 11/53 1922 A man writing on a complaints poster on the London Underground Getty Images 12/53 circa 1924 An underground tube train on an overground route to Golders Green, pulled by a traction engine, prior to being put into service Getty Images 13/53 1924 The entrance to Blackfriars station, London Getty Images 14/53 1924 A view showing the entrance to Farringdon Street station on the Metropolitan Line, London Getty Images 15/53 1926 An underground train being transported on wheels through the streets of London Getty Images 16/53 1928 Construction work at the ticketing area of the new Piccadilly tube station Getty Images 17/53 1928 A group of people listening to a gramophone player on a platform at Waterloo, London, during the filming of Anthony Asquith's Underground film Getty Images 18/53 1928 Mail in containers being loaded into a train at Mount Pleasant depot, London Getty Images 19/53 circa 1928 Indicators which record the running of the trains at the newly opened Piccadilly station Getty Images 20/53 1932 A passenger buys a London Underground season ticket from a vending machine at Highgate station in London Getty Images 21/53 1933 A guard on Leicester Square underground signals the 'all clear' with a baton fitted with electric lights which is clearly visible to the driver at the other end of the platform. Previously the guard used hand signal Getty Images 22/53 1936 A London Underground workers' canteen in Acton Getty Images 23/53 1936 Six underground railway tunnels run under the Earl's Court Exhibition building which is under construction near Earl's Court station, London Getty Images 24/53 1937 A woman in a 'new design' London Underground train Getty Images 25/53 1937 A London underground worker putting up the new St Paul's sign at Post Office station Getty Images 26/53 1937 Workmen at Baker Street, London being lowered into a shaft to work on the Bakerloo underground line extension between Baker Street and Edgware Road Getty Images 27/53 1939 Commuters on the escalators at Holborn station Anthony Wallace/Associated Newspapers 28/53 1939 Workers paste up billboards on the walls of Waltham Green station in London Getty Images 29/53 1940 People asleep on the platform at Piccadilly station, London, during an air raid Getty Images 30/53 1940 One of the six 'tube refreshment specials' operating on the London Underground is loaded with food before leaving the depot. The trains are used to deliver food to canteens at stations being used as public air-raid shelters Getty Images 31/53 1940 Members of the public being entertained by an ENSA concert party in Aldwych station, London Getty Images 32/53 1942 Mrs B. Lawrence cleans an electric underground train with acid at Neasden Station during World War II Getty Images 33/53 1944 An underground train on the District Line in London, equipped with a new system of lighting Getty Images 34/53 1948 A party of Swedish transport workers watching a London Underground train passing through an automatic wash at Hainault, Middlesex Getty Images 35/53 1948 A group of commuters look at a map of the Underground Getty Images 36/53 1956 A London policeman directs commuters to an alternative entrance to London's Piccadilly Circus station Getty Images 37/53 1956 Commuters travel through London's Piccadilly Circus station Getty Images 38/53 1957 Sir John Elliott, Chairman of the LTE shaking hands with the driver of the new prototype 'silver' tube train at Northfields station on the Piccadilly line Getty Images 39/53 1957 Guitarist Brian Hinton busking to passengers on the London Underground Getty Images 40/53 1958 A policeman controls queues at Tottenham Court Road station during a strike by London buses Getty Images 41/53 1960 A commuter reads a copy of D H Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', unaware of the fellow passengers surreptitiously reading over his shoulder Getty Images 42/53 1963 Crowds of people outside Oxford Circus underground station on the corner of Oxford Street and Argyll Street, London Getty Images 43/53 1964 An access tunnel under Oxford Circus used to extract clay from excavations during the construction of the Victoria Line on the London Underground system Getty Images 44/53 1968 Customers using the new telephones in the ticket hall at Oxford Circus underground station, London, which has been rebuilt in preparation for the new Victoria Line, which will pass through the station Getty Images 45/53 1969 Area Inspector H Matthews at the control panel in Victoria Station, London. Closed circuit television shows the tube platforms and escalators for the Victoria Line Getty Images 46/53 1971 The Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra travelling in the driver's cab after she had officially opened the extension of the Victoria line to Brixton Getty Images 47/53 1975 A queue at the ticket office at Gloucester Road station Getty Images 48/53 1975 A Policeman asks for the assistance of passengers from Moorgate Tube station following the train crash in the tunnel earlier in the week Getty Images 49/53 1978 Passengers on the London Underground Getty Images 50/53 1979 Making a change from the usual graffiti, the new murals on Charing Cross station are shown off by London Transport Manager Denis Hicks Getty Images 51/53 1979 A string quartet play on the Jubilee Line at Bond Street station, London Getty Images 52/53 1980 Passengers purchasing tickets in the ticket hall of Embankment station Getty Images 53/53 1989 'Guardian Angel' Curtis Sliwa patrolling a London tube train Rex

What hours do tube drivers work and how much holiday do they get?

Drivers will typically work a 36-hour working week and have 43 days annual leave, including bank holidays.

Shifts can begin as early as 4.45am and end as late as 1.30am.

Tube drivers are not allowed to drink alcohol for eight hours before the shift starts. They are some times required to work as many as 17 weekends in a row.

What are the working conditions like in the Underground?

Tube drivers have to maintain a high level of concentration for long periods in a dark cabin with no one for company.

The work itself can be quite repetitive, while the actual amount of driving varies between lines.

On modern trains, drivers mainly man the doors, deciding when they should close and when to leave the station.

Modern trains drive and stop using automatic signalling but Tube drivers can override the system and take back control if there is an emergency.

Older trains require the driver to move a lever called 'the dead man's handle' to get the train moving.

Training is also reportedly line-specific, and involves a lot of engineering and physics.

Drivers also have to be stick to a very tight timetable to keep the entire Underground moving.

How do you become a Tube driver?

Unless you already work for TfL, it can be difficult to apply as the jobs are not really advertised to the public.

Roles have not been publicly advertised since 2008 meaning all applicants are internal.

Publicly advertised TfL roles include applying to become a customer service assistant, who start on salary of around £30,000 a year.

Once you work for TfL, it is thought you can than wait for an internal position as a trainee driver or driver to become available.