Business groups said the strike will cost the British capital’s economy tens of millions of pounds.
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Travellers there have described “absolute carnage” as they tried to get into work.
Abbie Morrow posted a photo to Instagram showing the clogged streets of London as seen from her view on an hour and 15-minute bus ride.
Twice as many people as usual hired bikes to get to their companies, while many commuters chose to walk miles in the sunshine as roads were packed with cars. Police was called and they just arrived!
Transport for London (TfL), the local government organisation responsible for most aspects of London’s transport system, said it would lay on 200 extra buses and more bicycle rental hubs, although it also posted walking maps of London on its website.
There were also signalling problems at London Bridge, which heaped further misery on passengers.
The evening rush hour in London on Thursday was thrown into chaos by the network-wide closure of the Tube over an employment dispute.
The 24-hour service is due to start in September.
“The thing is ridiculous, and it is not a well-founded strike”, he said, adding that he hoped “common sense will prevail”.
He claimed LU had put together a “remarkably fair” pay offer for the introduction of the night service.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said the action was political and accused the unions of having no interest in doing a deal.
LU said it had received no response to the latest “fair and competitive” pay offer made to unions on Monday, urging that it be put to workers.
“We’ve wasted three months in negotiations that failed to address staff concerns”, said the RMT union’s general secretary Mick Cash.
LU’s boss warned that the strike will cause “big disruption” and branded it “totally unnecessary”.
The dispute centres on the launch of night services on some of the tube lines from September.
As a result, on Thursday, millions of commuters were forced to find an alternative way to travel, reported by CNN.
The start of the strike affected tennis fans at Wimbledon, with people relying on public transport advised to leave before the end of Andy Murray’s match. Services are expected to resume as normal on Friday morning.
“Providing real-time info on arrivals at every one of London’s 20,000 bus stops, and giving you a heads-up on any route disruption, Bus Checker is an invaluable resource – especially when the tube is down”.
“Another favourite among Londoners, Uber lets you order a private hire auto to your location, track your driver’s progress and pay for it through the app. However, during high demand periods – such as a tube strike – Uber’s “surge pricing” policy means it can be rather pricey, so be sure to check this beforehand”. “Saw a man eat a two finger KitKat without breaking it in half lengthways”. Scott Nelson tweeted: “This might make me unpopular but I back the #TubeStrike”.
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“Employers may wish to consider allowing their employees to work remotely, or hold meetings with clients online rather than in person”.
