London commuters have criticised rail unions for causing disruption to their journeys, branding striking workers “selfish”.
Passengers at Waterloo Station on Tuesday morning said rail staff should find a different way to resolve the pay dispute.
Waterloo Station was quieter than usual at rush hour this morning with the number of passengers waiting for a train at any one time countable on fingers.
Around 12 trains were running every hour between 8am and 9am – mainly to Woking, Southampton and Windsor and Eton Riverside.
Roy Lague was among a flurry of people who came off a train that arrived in the station from Feltham in West London.
Mr Lague said the strikes meant he was arriving at work more than an hour later than usual.
The 66-year-old pipe fitter said: “I normally leave the house at 5:30am and take the 6am train but there wasn’t a train until 7:45am today so I’m arriving to work later.
"The train was a bit cramped but luckily it starts from Feltham where I live so I managed to get a seat.”
Mr Lague criticised railway workers for going on strike when other people, like himself, were struggling to make ends meet.
He said: “I’m against the strikes. We all want a pay rise but you don’t go about it like this.
"With what we’ve gone through during the last few years you’ve got to give people a chance to rectify things before asking for more. I don’t even have a proper pension.”
Commuter Michael Markiewic was heading off to Southampton for the day to visit friends.
The 66-year-old visiting from Sydney, Australia for five weeks and staying in central London said the strikes hadn’t impacted his trip yet.
He said: “I took a taxi here but I could’ve walked as I’m staying close by. It cost me £14 for a cab.
"I arrived here at 8:10am and my train to Southampton is at 8:30am so it hasn’t been a problem yet really. It kind of defeats the object of the strikes.
“I think with a lot of people working from home now it’s not a big deal. I’ve still got to work out how to get back though so I don’t want to speak too soon.”
A dentist, who asked to remain anonymous, said the strike action had added an hour on to her journey to work from Barnet in North London to Wimbledon in South West London.
She said: “Normally I would just get the northern line 30 minutes to Waterloo and then change to Wimbledon but today I had to get two buses just to get to Waterloo. It’s a three hour and a half journey all in all.
“I’m a dentist and I can’t cancel on patients.
"I’m totally against the strikes. It’s so selfish especially when NHS people have worked hard over the pandemic and all the extra hours they’ve done.”
But Ahn Sooyeon who was also heading to the office on the same train to Wimbledon said she supported the striking workers.
The 29-year-old said: “I support the strikes. They’ve the right to do it. The strikes haven’t affected me too much as I can still get the train to work – I just looked it up beforehand.”
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