London: Commuters in London geared up for days of travel chaos as the London Underground workers have kicked off a 48-hour strike. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) union members started their planned walkout at 2100 GMT last night (0230 IST today) calling for the Mayor of London to suspend plans to close all ticket offices and cut 950 jobs in the city.
The authorities have said the measures are needed to modernise and save an estimated 50 million pounds a year. British Prime Minister David Cameron took to Twitter to brand the strike as "shameful" as would bring "misery to millions of Londoners".
In response, an RMT representative said Cameron should get mayor Boris Johnson to stick to his election promise to Londoners not to close ticket offices.
London Underground, one of the world's oldest networks which carries around three million passengers daily, plans to run a limited service until Friday morning with a number of stations and lines being closed.
On Monday, the conciliation service Acas had said seven days of talks had ended without agreement. Since then, in a radio broadcast, RMT union leader Bob
Crow told the London Mayor the strike would be suspended if the job cuts were withdrawn.
Johnson has stressed that no compulsory redundancies were planned. Around 100 extra buses will be laid on, while normal services will run on London Overground and Tramlink.
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