London Underground workers are leading a 24-hour walkout in an ongoing row over jobs and pensions.
Members of the RMT union are on strike today, along with some of their Overground colleagues, shutting down much of the Tube network for the day.
Most buses in west and south-west London will also be out of service as a result of industrial action by Unite members.
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The action is sandwiched between RMT strikes at Network Rail on Thursday and Saturday, as the standoff between the unions and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps deepens.
Transport workers have called for a pay rise in line with inflation as well as job protection amid proposed government cuts.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Tube bosses are holding secret negotiations with the government over cutting jobs and undermining working conditions and pensions, all in the name of scrapping subsidies.
“This government-led assault on staff will be disastrous, as no other comparable urban transport system in the world operates without central government financial support to ensure good and reliable services.
“The government needs to stop trying to get services on the cheap by cutting jobs and wages, and invest in what should be a world-class transport network.”
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6:25 Lynch says the strikes will continue
Passengers are asked not to travel today.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “It is clear that strikes are not the powerful tool they once were and union bosses can no longer stop the country because, unlike them, the world has changed and people simply work from home.
“All these strikes are doing is harming the people the unions claim to represent, many of whom will be out of pocket again and forced to miss a day’s work.
“We urge union bosses to do the right thing by their members and let them have their say on Network Rail’s very fair deal, which will deliver the reforms our rail system urgently needs. It’s time to get out of the picket lines and re-negotiate. table, the future of our railroad depends on it.”
Passengers using national rail services today will be left with a hangover from Thursday’s strikes, with the network having to catch up to get trains where they need to be before journeys resume.
Only one in five trains were running on Thursday, and many areas had no service between them, and the same will happen again on Saturday.
Read more: RMT boss Mick Lynch says ‘we’ll keep going until we get a negotiated deal’
Andy Lord, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “I would like to apologize to our customers for the ongoing strike action by RMT and Unite, which will have a significant impact on the city’s transport network.
“I understand how frustrating these strikes are, and I would like to remind RMT and Unite that it is not too late to work with us, Arriva Rail London and RATP (which runs London buses affected by the strike) to find a solution. and avoid the major disruption this action will cause to people’s travel and the economy.”
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A spokesman for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Discussions about funding for TfL are ongoing with the government, but TfL has been clear that no one has or will lose their job as a result of the proposals put forward above, and that all changes are always subject to full consultation with staff and unions.
“Sadiq has also been clear that the government should not use the terms and conditions of TfL employees as a bargaining tool in funding negotiations.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will be speaking to Sky News this morning at around 7am.