Tube and rail strikes have hit commuters efforts to get to work on Wednesday (February 22) morning, while a nine-mile tailback meant motorists also endured a nightmare start to the day.

Industrial action called by trade unions Aslef and the RMT saw the Central line severely disrupted in west London, while there was no service whatsoever on the Waterloo & City line.

With the 24-hour out ending at 9pm on Wednesday, services are not expected to return to normal until Thursday (February 23) morning, Transport for London (TfL) has warned.

Beleaguered Southern Rail passengers have had to put up with more industrial action, with conductors on a 24-hour strike.

The perfect storm was completed when a broken down vehicle on the A40 eastbound led to nine miles of traffic between Swakeleys Roundabout in Uxbridge and Gypsy Corner in Acton.

The London Underground strike was called following a dispute over the transfer of eight drivers from the depot in Leytonstone to Earl’s Court .

Transport bosses said trains are running around every five minutes between North Acton and Leytonstone at peak times, and every 10 minutes off peak, and around every 10 minutes between North Acton and West Ruislip / Ealing Broadway at peak times, with 20 minutes services off peak.

The RMT described the walk-out as “rock solid”, while TfL said it was “unnecessary”.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT negotiators have made strenuous efforts to resolve this dispute but the door has been slammed in our faces.

“The action is rock solid today with the impact severe and widespread and the blame for that lies firmly at the door of an intransigent LU management that refuses to see sense.”

Peter McNaught, TfL’s operations director for the Central line, said: “I apologise to customers for the disruption that this unnecessary strike is causing.

“We have made all reasonable efforts to resolve this dispute through talking through the issues with the unions, and we have minimised the number of employees affected from over 30 to eight.

“All of these moves are within the long-standing agreements we have made with the unions.

“We call on the RMT to honour this long-standing agreement and join us for more talks to resolve this issue.”

Buses, roads and rail services were busier as a result of the strike.

TfL had also warned of the possibility of peak time queues and delays at stations including North Ealing, Ealing Common and Oxford Circus.

The Central line begins in west London at Ealing Broadway, and runs through Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster before moving on to the east of the capital.

On Southern, the strike meant there was no service between Clapham Junction and Milton Keynes Central via Kensington Olympia / Watford Junction.

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