Commuters RAGE as 24hr Tube strikes cripple capital

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London’s Tube strike sparked chaos across the capital today, with commuters fighting at busy bus stops and accusing cab-hailing services like Uber of ‘scamming’ the public by adding an extra £40 to the price of fares.  

The Underground will be crippled all day because of a strike by thousands of workers, suspending services on all lines except the Overground, DLR and TfL Rail – though a significantly reduced service did open on the Central, District and Northern lines by mid-morning. 

Around 10,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have walked out for 24 hours today – and will do so again on Thursday – in a row over jobs, pensions and conditions.

The RMT said its members were ‘solidly supporting’ the industrial action, which added as much as two hours to the length of the commute for many.

It is the first full week that many workers are returning to the office full time, following the lifting of all remaining Covid restrictions last Thursday.

Pictures this morning showed huge crowds waiting at bus stops at stations like London Victoria and London Bridge, while tube trains at Stanmore lay idle.

Tensions boiled over as passengers tried to force their way to the front of queues and pile onto buses, with fights breaking out in the carnage against a backdrop of heavy rainfall.

More vehicles on the road saw traffic grind to a halt, which only added to the woes of commuters desperately trying to get to work on time. 

Location technology firm TomTom said at 9am the level of road congestion was 119%, which is the highest figure for the capital this year. The level was 80% at the same time last week. The figures represent the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flow conditions. 

Uber appeared to inflate its prices substantially as a result, while there were reports of cab drivers pitting customers against each other by cancelling some trips in order to pocket higher fares elsewhere. 

Similarly, there were delays and cancellations on overground services into the city, which fed-up passengers said ‘add another load of stress to the commute yet again’. 

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden was among those to criticise the action this morning, as he tweeted: ‘When Sadiq Khan first ran for Mayor of London he promised ‘zero days of strikes’ on the tube. 

‘Now we are entering yet another period of damaging strikes that threaten to bring London to a standstill. When you struggle to get to work today, remember: this is Sadiq Khan’s London.’

Fellow Tory MP Greg Hands called it ‘a disgrace and an insult to hard-working Londoners who have sacrificed so much the last 2 years.’

He added: ‘Like thousands of my constituents, am waiting for a bus. Unfortunately, Mayor Khan:

❌promised zero strikes, and has delivered record strikes.

❌cut the buses like the 14 and 170 through Chelsea & Fulham.

❌has totally failed.’

Commuters were earlier being warned of ‘extremely busy’ services during rush-hour amid a widespread Tube strike which has led to disruption on all Underground lines.

The announcement was delivered over speakers to passengers waiting in the rain at Finsbury Park station in north London for a Thameslink service at around 8.30am.

Despite seemingly higher than usual numbers of customers on the platform at Finsbury Park, relatively few were on the platform at St Pancras International for Thameslink trains. The Thameslink service was experiencing delays of several minutes for most trains.

In response, Londoners said the capital is ‘becoming unlivable’ as many had to spend hours in transit before finally getting to work.  

John Rayner, 28, a construction worker who was waiting for a bus in Paddington, west London, said: ‘I missed two buses this morning because queues for buses are so long and some buses don’t even bother to stop.

‘I walked to Paddington for over an hour as I thought I would have more luck getting a Tube from here. It is a joke. This city is becoming unlivable.’

Office worker Jasmine Keane, 40, said: ‘I have had to take an Uber to get to work. I don’t even know what time I will get to work with the traffic and weather.’

The frustration for commuters was exacerbated by the fact many had only just started returning to the office after the Covid pandemic.

Accountant Tim Hallan, 32, from Dulwich fumed: ‘It’s very, very frustrating. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time to be honest.

‘I’ve only just started commuting back into central London after the office opened back up following the coronavirus.

‘I’d normally get the London Overground to Canada Water and then the Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf but today I’m having to get the DLR.

‘It looks a good service but it’s going to be much busier than usual so I’m likely to be crammed in and it’s not going to be a very pleasant journey into work.’

Frances Low, 50, a clothing company production manager from Forest Hill would normally get the Underground to work in Bloomsbury, central London. But today she said she would have to get a train into London Bridge and bus from there.

She said: ‘The timing of this isn’t brilliant, coming so soon after the pandemic. I’ve been quite nervous about travelling after the Coronavirus and since we’ve come back to the office I’ve done my best to avoid crowded public transport.

‘Today, though, I’m going to have to get on a bus and it’s going to be rammed. I’m really not looking forward to it.’

David Emmett, 45, who commutes into the City, normally relies on the underground to get to Aldgate station.

He said: ‘I don’t understand why these strikes are going ahead? There are more important things going on in the world at the moment.

‘Not only is this going to significant increase my journey time into town, other modes of transport, buses, trains and the DLR are all going to be packed.

‘Shutting down almost the entire tube network of a city of some nine million people – at a time when most people are heading back to the workplace – is going to cause chaos.’

However, Leanna Etkind, 37, an engagement manager for a national charity, said she would get a Boris bike to her office near Trafalgar Square despite the wet weather.

She said: ‘I’m part of a union myself and I’ve no problem with the strikers who are trying to protect their jobs. It’s part of making work better – that said, I’ve picked the wrong day to commute into London!

‘I live in Cambridge and only come into the office about once or twice a month when I stay over at a friend’s house. ‘Today I’m going to get the train into London Bridge and then cycle to Trafalgar Square on a Boris bike – that’s if there are any left.

‘It’s raining and there’s a lot of traffic on the road but I think that would be a much better way of getting to work than cramming onto bus.’

Other travellers expressed their woe on Twitter, with one complaining of having to take three different buses to cover what is usually a 15-minute journey. 

Another frustrated commuter accused Uber of ‘scamming’ the public by apparently charging £30 more than the usual fare.

Meanwhile, a third said delays on overground lines into the capital ‘add another load of stress to the commute yet again’.

Picket lines were mounted outside Tube stations, while the union called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to intervene.

Transport for London (TfL) urged commuters to work from home or find alternative public transport because of the strike.

Another 24-hour walkout will be held on Thursday, and there will be knock-on effects on services on Wednesday and Friday.

The union fears that spending cuts will lead to hundreds of job losses and reductions in pensions and working conditions.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Sadiq Khan should be standing up to Tory ministers who want to needlessly attack jobs, pensions and conditions of key transport workers.

‘It is this political failure that has left Tube workers with no choice but to strike this week.

‘Our members have been left paying the price for a turf war between City Hall and the Government, and they are not having it – as can be seen right across London today.

‘The mayor knows the plan to attack our members’ pensions and conditions is wrong and would leave our union no choice but to take industrial action.

‘However, only last week the mayor agreed to submit proposals to the Government that will result in detrimental changes to pensions.

‘The mayor has to decide if he is on the side of key workers who have kept London moving during the pandemic, or Tory ministers hellbent on punishing Tube workers.

‘This dispute can be solved if the Mayor meets the reasonable demands of his own workforce.’

TfL chief operating officer Andy Lord said: ‘We haven’t proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out, so this action is completely unnecessary.

‘We know our customers deserve better than this and that is why we’re urging the RMT to talk to us so we can find a resolution to this dispute and call off this action, which is threatening London’s recovery from the pandemic.’

Mr Lord added that the disruption on London’s Tube network on Tuesday and Thursday is different from the strike action held ahead of Christmas last year.

He told LBC: ‘The dispute is across the entire network, whereas the previous dispute before Christmas was with the Night Tube only with the RMT and on certain lines. 

‘Today it is covering the whole network. We are hoping to run a limited service on some of the lines but I would really encourage customers to check the TfL website and only travel if their journey is essential.’ 

He encouraged people to work from home on Tuesday and Thursday. Asked about what provisions have been made for key workers who are not able to work from home, he added: ‘We’ve laid on extra buses and we also have all our other TfL services which are operating normally. I hope that they will be able to get to work without too much of an inconvenience.’ 

A spokesman for Mr Khan said the strikes will cause disruption to Londoners and businesses trying to recover from two devastating years.

‘It will also damage TfL’s revenues at a time when TfL is already under huge financial strain due to the pandemic.

‘TfL are working to mitigate the impact of the strikes but disruption is inevitable.

‘The mayor urges Londoners who need to travel on 1 and 3 March to check before they make their journey, consider whether they are able to work from home, and use alternative modes of transport where possible.

‘Sadiq doesn’t want to see strike action and is imploring the unions to come to the table and work with City Hall and TfL.’

Train passengers in the South were also hit by disruption unrelated to the Tube strike. Network Rail said a suspected power supply failure had led to a ‘complete loss of signalling’ in Ashtead, Surrey.

This was causing delays to services between Epsom and Leatherhead operated by Southern and South Western Railway.

Rail replacement buses have been requested. The disruption came on the day rail fares were increased, causing more misery for passengers.