Strikes cripple London underground

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Millions of London commuters struggled to get to and from work as a 24-hour strike by workers on the capital's underground rail system disrupted much of the network, hurting the city's convalescent economy.

Passengers took to bikes and buses, walked, or made use of extra boat services on the River Thames that snakes through the city in a bid to beat the stoppage, called in protest against 800 job cuts driven by austerity measures.

The London Chamber of Commerce said the capital's economy would lose 48 million pounds ($NZ102.3 million) for every day the underground was shut.

A normal service on the 400km underground network was not expected until Wednesday morning after staff returned to work late on Tuesday.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union said every underground line was suspended or running a skeleton service after "rock solid" support for the walkouts in protest at staffing cuts.

Underground operator Transport for London (TFL) said more than a third of trains had been running normally and contingency plans to limit the strike's impact had worked.

"The paralysis of London predicted by the leadership of the ... union has failed to materialise, and we are confident of running a good service tomorrow morning," said London Underground managing director Mike Brown.

Scores of people queued for buses and taxis and streets in London's financial district were snarled with traffic as heavy morning rain compounded commuters' problems.

Transport chiefs say fewer workers are now needed to staff ticket offices as most commuters now use electronic passes. They say all redundancies will be voluntary.

The RMT said the job cuts were just "the tip of the iceberg" as the coalition government led by centre-right Conservatives prepares spending cuts to tackle a record budget deficit.

Governments across Europe face labour unrest as they take unpopular measures to curb state spending that soared in the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

Rail and air transport, schools and postal services were severely disrupted across France by strikes and demonstrations against plans to raise the retirement age to curb a swollen public deficit.

Britain, which had to bail out its giant financial sector, is planning the harshest austerity drive in decades, with pay cuts, public sector job losses and pension reforms looming.

- Reuters