The strike will hit during the morning commute (tonight NZT). Photo / AP
Thousands of London Underground workers went on strike today after their unions rejected a last-minute offer to avert a 24-hour walk out, putting the UK capital on course for transportation chaos during the commute tonight NZT.
Staff at stations in London's 150-year-old underground rail network began leaving their posts this
morning, forcing Transport for London (TFL) to shut services and warn of disruptions. Riders on the system, which on peak days can carry as many as 4.8 million passengers, were told to allow extra time to travel.
"This Tube strike will cause misery to millions of Londoners," London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted as the walkout began.
Services were to be "severely reduced" today, the transit operator said in an e-mailed statement 90 minutes before the action began. Additional buses will be added to the schedule but buses, roads and rail services are expected to be much busier than usual, it said.
The strike is the first of 2017 after walk outs last year over job cuts and ticket-office closures initiated by then Mayor Boris Johnson, paralysing the city and leaving commuters scrambling for alternative ways to work. The walkout by Underground workers coincides with planned strikes this week at Southern Railway, which provides commuter services across most of southeast England.
