Commuters arrive to find Underground stations CLOSED until 7.30am

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Furious Londoners were unable to get to work for a second day today after finding Tube stations still shut some eight hours after yesterday’s shambolic strike was meant to end.

Workers once again had to brave the rain and cram onto buses and into overpriced taxis this morning after underground services were almost entirely closed during peak hours, even though official action is only scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday this week.

The TfL website just after 7am showed all lines were either suspended, part-suspended or running with a reduced service or minor delays, with the exception of the Victoria and Central lines, as well as TfL rail.  

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which has organised the action, blamed the chaos on ‘operational issues’. A source told MailOnline trains were not in the right place for the morning service as a result of yesterday’s strikes, meaning signallers couldn’t get to posts in time to safely run services. 

Rail bosses had earlier warned passengers to expect ‘severe disruption each morning, with services improving by late morning’, but few would have expected to arrive at stations today to find gates shut, as thousands did across the capital. 

The anger of passengers at Canada Water was exacerbated after they were initially told the station would reopen by 7.15am – only to then be informed just moments later it would likely remain shut until 8am. One embattled traveller was heard saying: ‘They don’t care about us because we’re poor.’ 

Meanwhile, there was disruption on other routes into the city, with passengers on a South West Trains service to London Waterloo evacuated at St Margaret’s, near Twickenham, following reports of a person being hit by a train. 

There are more headaches to come as well, with a full 24-hour strike again tomorrow, while fears are already growing of a repeat of the issues seen today on Friday.

There has been widespread fury yesterday at the timing of the strike – in the first full week since the end of all remaining Covid restrictions, with workers returning to the office in their droves – which sparked the worst traffic in the capital in three years years.

It was not much better today, as location technology firm TomTom said at 9am the level of road congestion was 103%, compared to 80% at the same time last week. The figures represent the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flow conditions. 

Andy Marchant, Traffic Expert at TomTom told MailOnline: ‘The tube strike has caused unprecedented disruption across the Capital, as London experienced its highest level of congestion in over three years. 

‘The numbers suggest that the car is still the most popular alternative method of transportation for Londoners, which brings to light issues of air quality. 

‘It raises an important question of when a situation like this arises again, how can we ensure people can continue to move about freely, in a way that doesn’t impact public health or the environment?

‘In London, just in 2021, some 14.8 megatonnes of CO2 were emitted in the city by vehicles, 2.2 megatonnes (15%) came as a result of inefficient traffic and congestion. 

‘On a high-traffic day like yesterday, emissions may rise above 48,000 tonnes – which is 20,000 tonnes more than a low-traffic day. The number of kilometres driven by electric vehicles is still a small percentage of the traffic in London, estimated to be around 4.4%. 

‘If this ratio were to increase by 10%, the overall inner-city emissions from traffic would drop by almost 1,000,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

‘With another tube strike planned for tomorrow, we can expect to see more disruption for workers making their early morning commute.’ 

There were fresh reports this morning of Uber cashing in by doubling the usual price of fares, though the cab-hailing firm insisted yesterday it had capped the level that prices can surge and was ‘working hard’ to ensure there are enough drivers to meet demand. 

Down Detector, which monitors and records system problems, saw more than 200 reports of problems with Uber around 7am, though any issues seemed to have subsided shortly after.

Commuters expressed their anger on social media, with one writing: ‘This tube strike is trying to get me the sack,’ while another said: ‘Still no tubes this morning, worse than yesterday. If it is a 24h strike why should there be any ‘hangover’? Get London moving, is becoming a joke.’

Another added: ‘It just took me over an hour to do a half an hour journey…these tube strikes are affecting the traffic soooo much.’

A third said: ”Services next morning affected’ – so the same thing Friday then… which means almost a whole week of no tube service… this is absolutely unacceptable.’

Another frustrated traveller said: ‘Thanks again @TFL for forcing everyone onto one tube line in the middle of the pandemic. Stay classy.’   

Neha Thethi, Head of Employment at Lime Solicitors said workers should check their employment contracts to see if an inability to get into work affects them. 

‘Whether employees get paid on days when they cannot make it into the office will largely depend on their contract of employment, so it is always worth checking your contract. Although, on a general note, employers do not have to pay employees who are unable to get into work, subject to their contract.

‘Employees are expected to make reasonable efforts to attend work despite any severe transport disruption. However, as a result of news way of working throughout the coronavirus pandemic and with the help of technology, many employees should be able to work from home.

‘It is usually best practice for employers to be flexible in these circumstances by allowing employees to request the time off as annual leave or to work from home if they cannot make it into work.’

Tensions boiled over on Tuesday as passengers tried to force their way to the front of queues and pile onto buses, with fights breaking out in the carnage against a backdrop of heavy rainfall.

More vehicles on the road saw traffic grind to a halt, which only added to the woes of commuters desperately trying to get to work on time.  

TomTom told MailOnline yesterday its data revealed that London’s roads were busier this morning than at any point, at any time of day, since the beginning of 2019.

Uber appeared to inflate its prices substantially as a result, while there were reports of cab drivers pitting customers against each other by cancelling some trips in order to pocket higher fares elsewhere.

Similarly, there were delays and cancellations on overground services into the city, which fed-up passengers said ‘add another load of stress to the commute yet again’. 

Around 10,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have walked out for 24 hours today – and will do so again on Thursday – in a row over jobs, pensions and conditions.

The RMT said its members were ‘solidly supporting’ the industrial action, which added as much as two hours to the length of the commute for many.

Another 24-hour walkout will be held on Thursday, and there will be knock-on effects on Friday as well, passengers were warned.

The union fears that spending cuts will lead to hundreds of job losses and reductions in pensions and working conditions.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Sadiq Khan should be standing up to Tory ministers who want to needlessly attack jobs, pensions and conditions of key transport workers. It is this political failure that has left Tube workers with no choice but to strike this week.

‘Our members have been left paying the price for a turf war between City Hall and the Government, and they are not having it – as can be seen right across London today.

‘The mayor knows the plan to attack our members’ pensions and conditions is wrong and would leave our union no choice but to take industrial action.

‘However, only last week the mayor agreed to submit proposals to the Government that will result in detrimental changes to pensions.

‘The mayor has to decide if he is on the side of key workers who have kept London moving during the pandemic, or Tory ministers hellbent on punishing Tube workers.

‘This dispute can be solved if the Mayor meets the reasonable demands of his own workforce.’

TfL chief operating officer Andy Lord said: ‘We haven’t proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out, so this action is completely unnecessary.

‘We know our customers deserve better than this and that is why we’re urging the RMT to talk to us so we can find a resolution to this dispute and call off this action, which is threatening London’s recovery from the pandemic.’

The three fat cat union barons holding London to ransom: The RMT bosses raking in £328,000 in salaries and benefits (including a subsidised CAR)

Rail union bosses who have brought London‘s tube network to a standstill rake in a combined total of £327,427 in salary and benefits a year – including a car.

Around 10,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) today walked out for 24 hours – and will do it again on Thursday – in a row over jobs, pensions and conditions.

But their bosses are unlikely to feel the pinch of having to shell out on expensive taxis felt by some Londoners today, thanks to their high pay and an RMT-subsidised car.

The most recent annual return for the trade union details the whopping wage slips and benefits received by the top three officers.

General Secretary Mick Lynch – who once sighed ‘All I want from life is a bit of socialism’ – collects a package worth some £124,886.

Lynch, who is the highest paid official, gets a £89,962 gross salary, Employers’ NI contributions of £11,590 and pension contributions of £23,334.

His Senior Assistant General Secretary Steve Hedley is on a £62,664 gross salary, with Employers’ NI contributions of £7,823 and pension contributions of £21,793 and a car benefit of £1,712 – giving him a £93,992 bundle.

And the final of the three is Eddie Dempsey, the RMT’s Assistant General Secretary.

Dempsey gets no car but is on a package worth £108,549. It breaks down to £78,282 of gross salary, Employers’ NI contributions of £9,978 with pension contributions of £20,289.

An RMT spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The pay and benefits of RMT officials are decided on through our democratic structures and are ratified at the union’s Annual General Meeting in a wholly open and transparent process that every member has a right to comment on.

‘The employers National Insurance contributions should not be confused with earnings and the pension contributions are defined by the union’s pension scheme which all staff members belong to.’

Hedley was suspended by the RMT at the start of the pandemic after saying he would ‘throw a party’ if Boris Johnson died from coronavirus.

The union said it would investigate him and he was back at work by the end of the year. 

Dempsey posed for pictures with a far right Ukrainian separatist warlord Aleksander Mozgovny, in Ukraine.

He was slated after he wrote a glowing obituary to him when he was killed in 2015.  

The RMT – who has always defended officials’ salaries – has laid the blame for the strikes at the door of under-pressure Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

It said it had taken action because London Underground bosses refused to rule out job cuts and pension changes.

They cited Mr Khan telling Labour Party members last year: ‘Telling those people responsible for heroically keeping London moving throughout the pandemic that now is the time they need to pay more into their pension funds strikes me as neither fair nor reasonable. it is not their fault the pandemic struck and they have acted heroically.’ 

MPs joined the backlash over the strikes, with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden tweeting: ‘When Sadiq Khan first ran for Mayor of London he promised ‘zero days of strikes’ on the tube.  Now we are entering yet another period of damaging strikes that threaten to bring London to a standstill. When you struggle to get to work today, remember: this is Sadiq Khan’s London.’ 

Andrew Bridgen told MailOnline many in the House of Commons were affected by the disruption. 

‘At a time of national emergency as we emerge from Covid-19 and face worldwide security issues, the tube strike is extremely damaging and self indulgent,’ he said.

‘The strikers should remember how much taxpayers money has been pumped into keeping the underground running during the recent pandemic.’

Tory MP Greg Smith said: ‘Billions in taxpayer bailout into TfL – and now despite ‘zero strike’ promises the Labour Mayor can’t even keep the tube open. My constituents who commute into London – and our nation’s capital more widely – deserve better.’ 

His colleague Greg Hands called it ‘a disgrace and an insult to hard-working Londoners who have sacrificed so much the last 2 years.’ 

Commuters were earlier being warned of ‘extremely busy’ services during rush-hour amid a widespread Tube strike which has led to disruption on all Underground lines.

The announcement was delivered over speakers to passengers waiting in the rain at Finsbury Park station in north London for a Thameslink service at around 8.30am. 

Despite seemingly higher than usual numbers of customers on the platform at Finsbury Park, relatively few were on the platform at St Pancras International for Thameslink trains.

The Thameslink service was experiencing delays of several minutes for most trains.

In response, Londoners said the capital is ‘becoming unlivable’ as many had to spend hours in transit before finally getting to work.  

John Rayner, 28, a construction worker who was waiting for a bus in Paddington, west London, said: ‘I missed two buses this morning because queues for buses are so long and some buses don’t even bother to stop. 

‘I walked to Paddington for over an hour as I thought I would have more luck getting a Tube from here. It is a joke. This city is becoming unlivable.’

Office worker Jasmine Keane, 40, said: ‘I have had to take an Uber to get to work. I don’t even know what time I will get to work with the traffic and weather.’