CONTINGENCY plans are already in place for a Tube strike that will start this weekend.

London Underground has been locked in talks with the RMT and TSSA unions this week trying to thrash out a deal to prevent industrial action.

Thousands of Tube workers will walk out for 24 hours on Sunday from 6.30pm, causing major problems on the Monday morning rush hour and bringing delays until Tuesday morning.

The RMT offered earlier this week to go to an independent arbiter in a bid to prove its case against 800 planned job cuts.

But any hope of an agreement seems to have faded, with Transport for London already having plans in place for the duration of the strike.

And the transport authority claims it will run around 50 per cent of services, as well as extending the buses provision and river transport options.

Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said: “London Underground has been ready and willing to discuss any safety concerns which the RMT and TSSA leaderships may have had since these proposals were announced at the start of March.

“We remain willing to discuss these at any time. The fact is that the TSSA and RMT leaderships are not facing reality, and are determined to inconvenience Londoners by striking over post reductions, many of which have already happened.”

He reiterated the claim that no stations will be left unstaffed when the job cuts come into effect from next February.

This will be the fourth Tube strike of the autumn as the dispute continues to create deep divisions between London Underground workers and management.

Problems are expected on most Tube lines, especially away from central London.

There will be an extra 100 buses and capacity for 10,000 extra journeys on the Thames, with taxi marshals helping people into cabs. In Canary Wharf, there are likely to be extra bike spaces in Cabot Square, while the pier at Westferry Circus is expected to be very busy.

The DLR and London Overground will operate a full service throughout the period of the strike.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “I feel sure that the defiance and contempt Londoners have shown for the previous futile strike action will be evident once more.

“The leaderships of the TSSA and RMT may well cause inconvenience through their stubborn refusal to face facts, but we are determined to keep the Capital moving by all means available to us.”