London's latest transit strike hobbles commuters

LONDON — Britain's biggest city was plunged into disarray and confusion Monday by a 24-hour strike that slashed service on the famed Tube network, one of the world's biggest and busiest subway systems. 

Commuters forced to take to their cars created traffic jams that nearly paralyzed parts of down town London as thousands of union workers stayed home. Bewildered tourists wandered subway and railroad stations. And some people trying to get to work gave up in disgust.

"I could take a bus, but it would take me hours," said London resident Shadie Allyn, a telephone operator who spent five hours trying to get to work before deciding she'd had enough. "Everyone depends on the Tube. They shouldn't be allowed to strike. It's ridiculous."

Monday rush-hour foot traffic hoofs across the London Bridge

By the afternoon, fewer than half of the usual trains were running and dozens of stations were closed, in a network that provides roughly 3.5 million trips a day. 

Seven of the city's 11 subway lines were at least partially closed, requiring passengers to switch lines repeatedly or squeeze into packed buses. University student Elizabeth Bajomo normally would have taken the Tube to a downtown railway station to catch her train. 

Shunted onto the bus Monday, she gave herself 90 extra minutes for the trip — and still missed her train, because buses showed up infrequently and then crawled through congested streets.

"The traffic was horrible," she said. "The Tube is so important. ... It's like the blood of the city."

London's transit system brought in extra buses, deployed an army of staffers to guide passengers and stepped up the water buses that ply the Thames River.

Among those who couldn't turn to the bus was sales manager Matt Matthews, who arrived in London from Paris by train at 10 a.m. and was still trying to get to work three hours later.

"I'm hoping I can get straight to work with no hesitations, but there's lots of traffic," he said, noting that his boss was mad.The strike was the fourth to hit the Tube in the past three months. 

Two labor unions have called the strikes over plans to cut staffing at ticket offices at some Tube stations.Many Londoners now rely on debit-card-like Tube passes that can be charged at automated booths, rather than on tickets purchased from a clerk. 

The union says the job cuts would jeopardize passenger safety and increase the risk of muggings.

"Can't believe the rail unions," London Mayor Boris Johnson tweeted when the latest negotiations broke down Friday.Bob Crow, leader of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, would not rule out the possibility of two- or even three-day strikes in 2011. 

He scoffed at the claims by the transit agency Transport for London that disruption was minimal. "If you believe what is on the TfL website, then you believe in Father Christmas," Crow said Monday. "They are using propaganda to mislead the public."

Transport for London spokesman Ben Pennington dismissed Crow's allegations as "nonsense." At the height of rush hour at 8:30 a.m., 40% of the usual 427 trains were in operation and dozens of stations were closed. While leaders traded blame, Londoners showed patience.

The Tube station close to the north London home of Vishnu Tiwan, a stay-at-home dad, was closed, so he took the bus down town to run errands and then spent at least 35 minutes waiting for his bus home.

The buses are "packed, there are too many queues, too many argumentative people," he said, but he denied he'd been significantly affected. "Londoners have gotten used to it. ... You just crack on with it."