A London Underground strike prompted the evacuation of Britain’s busiest station and chaos on the capital’s roads.
An estimated 700 passengers were forced out of Clapham Junction, which is the UK’s busiest ‘interchange station’, for around 30 minutes from 9am after the ‘worst crowding’ seen there in years.
The dispute over job cuts and ticket office closures meant hundreds of Transport for London staff either walked out or did not turn up for work between 6pm on Sunday and 6pm today.
“I was queuing for 40 minutes to get to my platform, then they announced the entire station was being evacuated ‘for passenger safety’ due to ‘overcrowding’,” said 25-year-old commuter Catherine Allison.
The industrial action, coordinated by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association (TSSA), closed the vast majority of underground lines. More info and video
By Peter Walker www.independent.co.uk
