City chaos as RMT strikes over salaries

Roads heaved under long traffic jams as thousands of commuters struggled to get around the capital without using the underground.

Nervous novice cyclists wove in and out of traffic, and thousands donned their walking shoes in a bid to get to work.

The RMT also came under fire for staging the strikes on the night of a World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

Fifty-eight thousand football fans made the journey to get to last night’s game between Andorra and England, in a ground that has capacity of 90,000. The FA was forced to offer full refunds – which could total £1m – to fans who were unable to beat a path to the stadium.

Nine lines were hit by the industrial action, although the Northern and Jubilee lines ran as normal.

As the day wore on, stations began to run a limited service, as Tube workers shunned the strike.

A bitter war of words broke out between the RMT and London Underground (LU) over pay and jobs, as talks to prevent the strikes failed to get off the ground.

RMT’s boss Bob Crow pointed the finger at London Mayor Boris Johnson, saying he was “playing politics” over the strikes. “I have never experienced such dishonesty from any management that I have dealt with,” Crow said.

Johnson hit back saying the accusations were “completely untrue”.

RMT also accused Johnson of storming out of a pre-recorded TV news debate set up with Crow yesterday.

A spokesman for Johnson said the claim was complete rubbish.

RMT wants a five per cent pay increase, and the promise of no compulsary redundencies. LU last week made a pay offer which the union dismissed. It is also demanding that two fired drivers be reinstated.