The Tube strike misery faced by Londoners is set to continue after a union leader warned industrial relations on London Underground have "totally collapsed”.
Both the Tube and the Docklands Light railway were hit by staff walkouts on what was dubbed “torrid Tuesday” - the second full day of industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union that has brought the Underground network to a virtual standstill.
It comes after only a “minimal” number of Tube services ran on Monday as thousands of the unions members walked out in a dispute over pay and hours.
The strike is set to continue all week and further industrial action has been threatened in the future.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey called on London's Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to intervene in the dispute.
"There has been a total collapse of industrial relations on London Underground," he said.
Mr Dempsey said that as well as strikes on the Tube and DLR, disputes were looming over the pay and conditions of cleaners as well as the future of ticket offices on the Elizabeth Line.
Transport for London says there are no plans to close ticket offices despite claims by the RMT that it has uncovered plans to shut them.
Mr Dempsey said: "The mayor has to intervene. He keeps telling us to return to the negotiating table - well, if he invites us to a meeting, we will attend.
"Our members are not asking for a king's ransom. We want progress towards recognition about the impact of shift work.
"We are not asking for an immediate drop from a 35-hour week to 32. We have been discussing this since 2018 and we are open to discussions."
However the London mayor said he would not be able to intervene to end the strike, saying last year’s move to give Tube staff a bumper pay rise to avert industrial action was because of “exceptional circumstances”.
Both Downing Street and Sir Sadiq have called on the RMT and Transport for London (TfL) to get back to the negotiating table to end the strike.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "I think Londoners will rightly be fed up with the disruption from Tube strikes ..... as parents try and drop their kids off at school, get to hospital appointments, get to work.
"We want to see RMT and TfL get back around the table when it comes to these strikes, work together in good faith to resolve this situation in the interests of passengers."
Transport for London managed a breakthrough for passengers on Tuesday - as services were run on the Northern line.
Trains began running on the full length of the line, which extends from High Barnet and Edgware in north London to Morden in the south, from 8am on Tuesday.
With the Elizabeth line unaffected by the Tube dispute, this meant that TfL succeeded in opening up key east-west and north-south routes through central London.
TfL will aim to open the Northern line again on Thursday.
Sections of other lines could open on Wednesday, depending on staff turnout, but TfL will continue to prioritise keeping the Elizabeth line open after a record one million journeys were made on the “Lizzie line” on Monday.
