Tube strike: Victoria station commuters brave the bus queues

Large queues for buses formed at Victoria station during the morning

Londoners endured yet another Tube strike as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union walked out for a sixth time this year in a row over pension changes and job cuts.

At Victoria train station, most commuters seemed to know about the strike.

Some of those pouring out of the station continued their journey on foot, largely unaffected, while others went straight to the nearby bus stops, heads down, phones in hand, planning unfamiliar routes on vehicles which - when they arrived - were heaving with passengers.

But Londoners are used to finding the smallest of spaces on public transport, and in some cases the steady beep of passengers tapping-in stopped only when the bus was packed up to the driver's cab.

Numerous passengers had to re-plan their journeys

Those who couldn't face the buses thought about alternative transport.

"At this rate, I'm gonna have to take an Uber or a taxi," said one woman on her way to work. She thought it would cost about £10, significantly more than the £1.65 bus fare.

But shortly after she thrust her phone towards me. Uber were quoting more than £30.

She decided to join the bus queue.

'A nightmare'

On strike days some Londoners do not have the luxury of working from home.

A nurse, searching for a bus, told me it had been "a nightmare" getting to work this morning, expressing her frustration at having to rely on the Tube and trains.

When I asked if she was sick of the strikes, she simply replied: "Absolutely."

Yet the exasperation towards those on the picket line wasn't shared by everyone. One man shrugged: "If if needs to be done, it needs to be done."

Cassia had a flight to catch today

I bumped into Cassia, who was trying to reach Euston where she was due to attend a conference. It's normally four stops on the Victoria line, a journey taking less than 10 minutes, but today she thought it would take her an hour.

She had a flight to catch later, too. "I don't know how I'll manage that," she said as her bus approached.

Those caught unaware by the action tended to be tourists. They stood like little islands as commuters streamed around them, urgently consulting their phones, their careful plans in disarray.

I spoke to one family who had arrived from Connecticut in the US with a new-born in a pram and large suitcases. Acknowledging the impossibility of boarding a bus to south London during the morning rush hour, they mused about finding a cafe.

Another woman who had just landed from France was trying to navigate her way to Upminster, 25 miles (40km) away.

Her friend's WhatsApp directions, sent before her arrival, were now fruitless, and she was psyching herself up for a 100-minute journey on three buses before station staff offered a better solution.

It was standing room only on many buses

By 11:00 GMT Network Rail estimated that 30,000 passengers had come through Victoria station, significantly fewer than the 55,000 the previous day. Many people had, it seemed, stayed away.

"It's not good for the UK's reputation," said one man on his way to India, armed with two huge suitcases.

Another, from France, was more sanguine about the situation, remarking dryly that today he would be going from one strike in London to another in Paris.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]