Tube strike cripples London
A strike by London Underground staff has crippled Tube services, causing chaos for people travelling into the British capital, who switched to buses and cars to get to work.
Queues are building up at bus stops and roads have been busy from 5am as millions of people who normally catch the Tube have to find other ways of getting to work.
Business leaders in London estimate the industrial action will cost the capital at least £100m in lost production and commerce.
The strike by 7,500 members of the London based Rail Maritime and Transport Union has devastated services, with no trains running in central London in the first few hours of the morning.
LU is running shuttle services on the extremities of some lines, including the Jubilee and Central.
But Tube lines in central London, including those serving main line railway stations, are crippled.
Many Tube stations are closed because of the strike, called by the RMT because it has concerns over safety and jobs.
The Corporation of London says thousands of businesses will be badly affected, adding to the capital's problems in coping with holiday cancellations caused by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The RMT, which is campaigning against the Government's controversial plans to run the Tube through a public-private partnership, could decide to stage further strikes.
Members of the train drivers' union Aslef are not involved in the action, but many are expected to refuse to cross RMT picket lines.
