Photograph by Elliott Brown
Commuters have suffered rush-hour chaos as London Underground workers strike over proposed ticket office closures and job cuts.
The 48-hour walkout began at 21:00 Tuesday and is supported by both the RMT and TSSA unions.
The unions say that the Transport for London (TfL) plans for saving money and modernising the Tube, which includes closing all 278 ticket offices, will cost 953 jobs.
A limited service is running on eight out of 11 lines until Friday morning.
The unions have complained that London mayor Boris Johnson has not met with them to discuss their demands, but in a heated exchange yesterday on LBS radio, Boris Johnson told the general secretary of RMT, Bob Crow:
“I cannot do is sit down and negotiate with you when you are putting a gun to our head.”
The government has said thaht they are looking at plans to declare London Underground an essential service, subject to a “minimum service agreement”, to reduce the threat of future strike action.
People have taken to social media to show the queues and complain about the chaos at tube stations due to the strike: