Ludicrous, unrealistic and unfair: the commuter view

The picture on the streets of London was a familiar one of misery as the Tube strike had its predictable, disastrous effect.

Long queues at main rail stations as workers piled into the capital and found themselves with nowhere to go, chaotic scenes at bus stops, thousands late for work - and in the midst of it all, the grim-faced stoicism of a travelling public which knows there is nothing it can do about it.

At Victoria crowds formed huge queues for buses and taxis as the industrial action caused all Tube services out of the station to close.

One commuter left home two hours early to get to work on time. Paul Smith, a 40-year-old managing director, said: "I left the Isle of Sheppey in Kent at 4.30am because I knew I needed to make alternative arrangements to get to work on time. I normally have to get the Tube from Victoria to Oxford Circus or King's Cross and this morning I am one of dozens trying to scramble onto a bus.

"It seems ludicrous that there is a strike going on just because these workers have insecurity issues. It has rubbed people up the wrong way and it is inconveniencing us when they should be providing us with a better service."

Soren Mogensen, making his way from his home in Wimbledon to work in Chippenham, struggled to get through the crowd trying to push their way onto a bus.

The 33-year-old IBM consultant said: "I've left home almost an hour early and had to look on the TfL website to work out an alternative route. It's absolutely ridiculous that these strikes are allowed to happen. Millions of people rely on the Tube network and they shouldn't be allowed to strike whenever it suits them. I can see today I'm going to have a few nightmare journeys."

Sonia Dean, 24, a trainee accountant from Brighton, said she had to leave home two hours early to get to her workplace in Islington on time.

She said: "This strike action has already ruined my day and it's barely even begun. I am now going to face a nightmare journey up to north London all because a few people are disgruntled with their work and pay conditions. I'm unhappy today but I can't just decide not to go into work at the drop of a hat. It seems unfair that these people have the right to affect millions of others and cause us all such misery."

At King's Cross - where Tube services were cancelled on three lines - the effect of the strike could be seen etched on the faces of the hundreds of commuters crammed on packed buses.

Among those caught up in the chaos was nurse Davinia Lowe, 26, struggling to get to work at Whitechapel. "I had to get up an hour earlier today," she said. "The strike means I have to get a bus part of the way and it is clear there is hardly any room on the buses.

"I don't have any sympathy with the strikers. They make me very angry.

"These are people on a good wage - I am sure many nurses wish we had the same conditions. There are many times we would have liked to have gone on strike but we do not do it because of the misery it causes."

For engineer Nick Coombes, 48, from Exeter, the strike was caused by "a lack of competition". He said: "These strikers should face more competition. I am an engineer for Sainsbury's and if I tried to go on strike, I would get the sack and somebody else would get my job. These people exist in a totally unrealistic-world - one which has long since ceased to exist in the commercial workplace in Britain."

The chaos began last night as hundreds of thousands of passengers struggled to get home after the walkout shut down more than three-quarters of the network.

Hundreds of Tube users urged to travel before 5pm who arrived early were turned away because of the volume of passengers.

Lucy Sipson, 28, management consultant, queuing for a taxi at Paddington to get to Richmond, said: "The Tube staff have the luxury of being in an industry where they can strike and get what they want. It's unfair on the rest of the us." The stoppage caused massive queues for buses and taxis outside Victoria, Paddington, Waterloo and Liverpool Street. Sales assistant Sarah Harris, 22, travelling home from Knightsbridge to Rainham, Kent, said: "The Tubes don't work anyway so I don't know why they are striking."

However, Jess O'Brien, 24, who walked from Oxford Circus to Victoria to get a train home to Clapham, said: "I back the right of unions to strike to get what they want. We're just going to have get on with it as best we can."

Cordelia Satchell, 22, a temp from Victoria, had missed the last District line service to Barons Court. "I didn't even know the strike was on until I got here. There should h ave been more warning and information," she said.

She was walking to her job in the City today.