Commuters in Britain's rush hour were faced with chaos as tens of thousands of rail workers began their strike on Tuesday, the biggest in 30 years.

“My day has been terrible,” says commuter and nursing manager Priya Govender on Tuesday morning.

Train stations and London Underground stations, which are usually bustling with people, were largely deserted on Tuesday. After talks to prevent the strike broke down on Monday, it became clear that a total of 50,000 people working on the railways would go on strike.

The rail workers' union RMT believes that wages have not kept up with Britain's sky-high inflation, which is set to rise even further. The RMT has not accepted the employer's offer of a 3 percent pay increase when inflation is at 9.

The strike is scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and travelers are urged not to travel at all during the week.

”A long day”

During the morning, people queued on the outskirts of London hoping to get a seat on the bus, but many soon gave up when full buses, unable to carry any more passengers, stopped stopping at their stops. The streets were jammed with traffic and taxis with cyclists trying to get between them.

Chief nurse Priya Govender was one of those trying to get from London Bridge station to her home south of the capital.

"I definitely won't be able to take a bus because they're packed. I'll have to take an Uber," she says.

"My day has been terrible. It's going to be a long day and I still have a full day's work to do," she says.

”No apology”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps strongly distances himself from the strike.

"The people who are being hurt are people who physically have to show up for work, maybe lower paid, maybe cleaners in hospitals," Shapps told Sky News.

– I deeply regret what they are doing today and there is no excuse for taking people out on strike.

Source: aftonbladet.se