Tube staff have gone on strike across the entire London Underground network in a row over ticket office closures.
Workers from the RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) unions are staging a 24-hour walk out.
“Last-ditch” talks, called for by the Mayor of London, failed to materialise after unions rejected a “new offer” from Transport for London (TfL).
Most central London stations are set to close, with some already shut before the strike started at 18:00 GMT.
TfL warned there would be “severely reduced service across the Tube network” and no service at all on the Victoria or Waterloo & City lines.
About 150 extra buses were set to be deployed and river services “enhanced” throughout the strike, with “travel ambassadors” deployed to help commuters, TfL said.
At the start of the strike London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “This tube strike will cause misery to millions of Londoners.”
Mr Khan said he has instructed TfL “to continue negotiating”.
The Labour mayor said TfL’s negotiating team “will be available around the clock to resolve this dispute”.
Calling the strike “pointless” Mr Khan said TfL’s offer “will ensure station safety and staffing levels across the Tube network”.
TfL previously said it would address the recommendations of a recent report, which found the closure of ticket offices had caused “significant issues” for Tube passengers.
Steve Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer for London Underground (LU), said the process to hire 200 extra staff had already begun.
“Taking into account existing vacancies and natural turnover this means that over 600 staff will be recruited for stations this year,” he said.
Several rounds of emergency talks had failed to break the deadlock between TfL and the unions, who claim planned ticket office closures pose a safety risk to passengers.
The biggest rail union, the RMT, walked out of talks at conciliation service Acas on Saturday.
A “new offer”, reportedly made after the RMT walk out, had been briefly considered by the TSSA.
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