In pictures: London Tube strike

Queues of people outside Victoria Underground Station — Image caption,
A strike on London Underground is causing disruption on Tubes and buses. A limited service was running but commuters at some stations - here queuing outside the metal shutters of Victoria - were made to wait before before being allowed on the platforms.

Commuters gather in front of the metal shutters at Waterloo tube station

It was a similar story at Waterloo, as confused commuters waited outside the gates.

Queues of people outside Victoria Station

Other people were forced to queue for buses in the early morning rush hour. The strikes are taking place as the unions protest against plans to close ticket offices and cut at least 950 jobs. Transport for London (TfL) said it wants to modernise systems and the cuts are necessary to save £50m a year.

Hundreds of commuters queue for the tube at Earl's Court

And at Earl's Court Tube station hundreds of people waited on the platforms in an effort to catch trains heading into central London.

A passenger squeezed into a tube at Oxford Circus

A passenger squeezes himself up against a door in one of the few running Tube trains, which became overcrowded during early morning rush hour at Oxford Circus station.

There were more confused commuters outside Stanmore Underground Station on the Jubilee line. A reduced service was operating on the line.

A passenger waits on an empty platform at Oxford Circus Underground station

At Oxford Circus a passenger waits for a Bakerloo line train that never arrived. No service was operating on the entire line.

Other commuters took to the roads to try their luck, but were met with heavy traffic on the North Circular in north-east London.

A screens flash up at Liverpool Street Station informing people of the strike

Screens display information for passengers at Liverpool Street Station. The strikes are due to end at 20:59 GMT on Thursday 6 February but services are not expected to be back to normal until Friday morning.