Morning:
13°c
An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
London faces a wave of bus and Tube strikes that could cause chaos for millions of passengers as unions walkout over pay and conditions
More...
Black Monday for commuters
Last updated at 10:47am on 20.11.06
London Underground was hit by severe delays
London commuters faced a day of travel hell today.
Chaos on Tube, rail and bus services combined with atrocious weather made it Black Monday for passengers trying to get to work.
The Central, District and Circle were either suspended completely or suffered massive disruption. The Northern line was also hit.
A strike by up to 2,500 bus drivers working for Metroline crippled services on 70 routes across north and west London and parts of Hertfordshire-Overrunning engineering works at Basingstoke caused delays to South West Trains services coming into mainline Waterloo station.
Maintenance company Metronet was being blamed for the trouble on the Tube.
There were calls for the firm to be stripped of the contract which makes it £1million a week profit. An industry spokesman said: "Today has been absolute hell for commuters."
Banker Guillaume Dejongh, 23, from Notting Hill, said: "I wish I knew how to get to work. This is ridiculous. I'm very angry. It happens all the time."
There was no service at all on the Central line for much of the morning peak period. The problems appeared to be caused by a major signal and computer-failure. London Underground later managed to get a series of shuttle services operating at the west and east end of the line but this was not in time to prevent major disruption. There was no service at all through central London.
The Circle line was suspended in both directions throughout the morning peak because of over-running engineering work.
The District line was suspended between Whitechapel and Mansion House stations. This also disrupted the rest of the line between Upminster in the east and Ealing and Wimbledon to the south and south-west.
Tube services were so badly disrupted that LU advised passengers to turn to the bus instead - but commuters found services already packed solid as they arrived at the bus stops because of the Metroline strike.
Ken Livingstone was reported to be "incandescent" with fury over Metronet's latest failure and called for a full report into exactly what had gone wrong. Metronet was condemned in a report last week for failing to do its job properly. Brian Cooke, chairman of TravelWatch, London's passenger watchdog, said: "This is a black day both for commuters and for Metronet. The company clearly has not learned the lesson spelled out in last week's report.
"Passengers have suffered enough because of Metronet's failings - action must now really be taken to ensure there are no more repeats of this sort of thing." The RMT union led demands for Metronet to be sacked.
There were severe delays on the Northern line today due to a signal failure at Wimbledon station.
An LU spokesman added: "We apologise to passengers for the disruption to their journeys this morning. We are working hard to resolve the problems as soon as possible.
"Passengers are advised to seek alternative routes with buses and London train services accepting Tube tickets."
LU laid on an emergency fleet of 26 buses between Whitechapel and Mansion House stations.
Delays on South West Train services was being blamed on late-running engineering works.
Metroline bus drivers who walked out on a second 24-hour strike caused disruption for 800,000 passengers.
Reader views (21)
Why is it that Bob Crow makes much noise when the private sector have a bad day but is mysteriously quiet when happens in the public sector? Network Rail have now taken maintenance and other activities in-house ie. away from private companies, and had severe disruption when a signalling cable failed earlier this month. Response from dinosaur Crow? Zilch.
- Craig, Pinner, Middlesex
As Melissa said, don't forget to fill in the customer charter form and you'll get £3 back. Not much, and it takes a few weeks, but it's your entitlement. Metronet have been coming under fire for years it seems to me. Why are they still in business?
- Navaz Batliwalla, london
I normally cycle in but today I did not and had no idea it would take two hours to get the seven miles from my house to Central London. It's back on the bike for me tomorrow: 35-45 minutes whatever the traffic conditions.
- Ian Oliver, Acton, London
A lot of focus is on tube choas - my train line, One railway has also shown dreadful service over the past few weeks. Something really needs to be done to bring ALL the transport companies into line - Fines don't work because the commuter is the one that pays. Either directly via fares or indirectly via 'revised' services that deliberately use loopholes so the train companies don't get fined. The commuter ALWAYS suffers.
- Gary Williams, London
I drive to work on a daily basis, and this morning, as with last week's bus strike, the roads were lovely and quiet. It just shows how much congestion buses cause.
- Lisa, London
Fortunately, I was warned prior to leaving the house this morning by a friend, that, once again, there was an awful service on the Central Line. This has now been going on for the last 6 business days. How long will it continue. What excuse will they use next?
- Darren, East London
I would say to everyone delayed, make sure you claim your refund from London Underground for your journey this morning (online or Customer Charter forms at stations). Hit them where it hurts.
- Melissa, London
My journey to work took exactly the same time as usual on my bike. If cycling became more socially acceptable it could divert a great deal of pressure away from other forms of transport. Presumably "Banker Guillaume Dejongh, 23" (above) works in the City, 25 minutes on a bike from Notting Hill. Cycling is about the only form of transport in London that is not at full capacity these days but is still viewed as a marginal, dangerous and eccentric form of transport.
- Nick Kemp, London
None of the buses or tubes my daughter uses to get to her first job were working this morning...she can't wait to get her driver's licence and end her daily commuting hell. If she's stuck in a jam, at least she'll be in her own vehicle. Use public transport? Mayor Ken might as well tell us to buy a helicopter...
- Suzanne Nuri, Highams Park, London
The best thing to do is to cycle if you possibly can. I recently moved to Brockley, SE4 and I work in Chancery Lane. It's a round trip of 12 miles and really keeps me fit. I've lost weight and save money - I don't need any kind of travel pass any more. There are more and more cyclists on London's roads and if more join these, perhaps there will be even better provision for road. Even in the rain, I find it by far preferable to cycle than to squeeze myself onto a hot sweaty train or bus after waiting around stressing when it's late or cancelled!
- Mark, London
Sack Metronet and bring maintenance back in house, it's been shown that ppp doesn't work. Private companies exist for one reason only -to make money.
- Andy, London
During my 30 years of hardtime in London there was always an element of traffic chaos, so what's new? I lived in Islington and was educated in South London, but managed it fine.
I mean, does one HAVE to live in the seething dump that London has become, or is it all about being a part of the trendy Metropolitan thing?
One remedy is to live and work in Highgate; the other, up sticks and clear off, pronto!
- Ted, Shetland
Apparently there are trees in the Kent countryside as well, at least that was the pathetic excuse we got for this mornings extra 15-20 min on Southeastern.
Could all responsible tree owners please chop their trees down near railway lines? Oh, and someone please stop rain as we got that one as an excuse last week!
- Iris, Kent
Don't waste money on fares - get a bicycle and travel to work under your own steam rather being dependent on a clapped out unionised transport network.
- Rob, Letchworth, England
JD you are kidding right? Taxpayers respect? Which planet do you live on?
It's simple - make all the people in charge of public transport USE public transport!
- Jay, London
Transport in London was no better yesterday, a Sunday. Whitehall was closed for some reason and the few buses shuttling travellers away from London termini like Victoria & Waterloo were snarled up in traffic on the Embankment for hours.
- Tom, Croydon, England
You forgot to mention that all the First Capital Connect services into Moorgate/Kings Cross were also delayed/cancelled/taking 50 minutes to get to a destination which normally takes 25. Public transport in London is a joke - higher fares for less service is correct it seems.
- Angela Walker, Barnet, England
Why are most jobs in Central London?
Why not encourage companies to relocate to the suburbs where people live?
So much travelling is unnecessary.
- John Jones, Hampton, Middlesex
Did anyone mention "leaves on the line"? Oh yes this old chestnut is back... today the 05h34 Epsom to Waterloo train was "delayed" by 12 minutes as the train had "diificulty gaining traction due to leaves on the line"... har , har what a load of twaddle. We were told that this problem was solved 10 years ago! We have the utter lunacy of Red Ken trying to bash everyone who drives a car whilst the public transport system repeatedly fails to provide a service to people who have to go to work. The service was better in Victorian times ... and this is the 21st century!
- James Ritchie, London, UK.
Can't wait for the olympics - more transport = more failures.
Metronet are costing the capital millions with their apathetic "running" of the tube.
- Matt, Leytonstone
Not surprised at all. Livingstone's and TFL's motto has been 'Fares up, Services down' for a very long time. One day they will realise who pays their salaries and begin to show the commuter and taxpayer some respect
- Jd Knight, London, England
