Tourists at Heathrow hit out at 'terrible first impression'

Air travellers and commuters caught up in the strike today said the action “embarrassed” London.

Tourists landing at Heathrow said London had made a bad first impression as they faced nightmare onward journeys from the airport.

Commuters facing lengthy queues for buses said they couldn’t understand why Tube workers had again resorted to industrial action. There were reports of crushes as travellers leaving mainline trains tried to get on the skeleton Underground services.

As well as Tube services, the action affected Heathrow Connect, which has been cancelled today and tomorrow, and the Heathrow Express, which is running half as many trains as normal.

John Jackaman, 81, who grew up in Croydon but has lived in Canada for 60 years, said it was “embarrassing” and added: “It doesn’t give London a good reputation.”

Peter Bellerby, 49, who flew in from New York with his fiancée Jade Fenster, said: “It’s just pathetic really. The weather is getting quite nice — it seems the Underground do strikes based on the fact they want a few more days off a year. I have never understood a single strike they have done.”

On the Victoria line, where trains normally run every two minutes or so, there was only a 10-minute service.

Retail trader Kim Eden, 33, from Sutton, said: “As a Londoner you become accustomed to it, but it does happen a lot. It’s just very frustrating. I don’t understand why they can’t settle things without resorting to striking.”

Andy Nichols, 27, a commodity broker from Brixton, said: “It’s just going to turn everyone against them, isolating themselves even further.

“You don’t see it in other major cities, this chaos because they have decided to shut down. It’s just ridiculous.”

And Rhiannon Humphries, 33, a marketing manager from Crystal Palace, said: “I just think it’s a lost cause, it’s not going to make a difference and the changes cannot be stopped.”

At Stratford today, commuters were crushed in what one passenger described as a “stampede” when the station opened at 7am.