Misery for commuters as Tube strike brings chaos to the roads

Commuters suffered fresh misery yesterday as a one-day strike by drivers on the London Underground reduced rush-hour traffic to walking pace.

Only 50 Tube trains were operating – a tenth of the normal service – as members of the GMB union supported a strike over the safety questions raised by the part privatisation of the Tube.

Of the three million commuters who normally take the Tube, many workers chose to stay at home for the day while others faced the grim choice between a torturous journey by car, taxi or bus.

A severely limited Tube service ran on the Victoria, Northern, Jubilee and Metropolitan lines and some of the few Tube trains became so packed that they passed straight through the busiest stations.

The strike officially ended at 8pm last night although London Underground warned that due to driver rotas there would be a slow return to work and services were not expected to return to normal until this morning.

The industrial action, which came a day after council workers across the country came out on strike in a dispute over pay, caused tempers to fray on a muggy day in the capital. Police were called to restore order after scuffling broke out between around 50 commuters battling to board a crowded bus in Stratford, east London.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "They were all pushing their way onto the bus, the driver was worried that someone might get injured. People were hanging off the end of the bus." First London, which runs 1,200 buses in the capital, said it had been put under "immense pressure" by the strike.

Around 7,000 RMT members supported the strike after a ballot resulted in an eight-to-one majority in favour of action. Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, joined a picket line at Leytonstone in east London and said he was delighted with the "solid support".

Mr Crow, wearing a picket armband said: "We are here today because London Underground has taken no notice of our safety concerns. They have paid lip service to what our members have to say." Mr Crow apologised to members of the public for the disruption the strike was causing but claimed that most people supported the union's campaign.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, refused to condemn the strike.

He said the public-private partnership was being imposed "against the wishes of the great majority of Londoners" and added: "Its malign consequences are worsening all fields of the transport system in London, including leading to the industrial action. The best way to prevent conflict like the present is for the Government withdraw the PPP."

Further strikes or other forms of industrial action have not been ruled out.