London, January 10 (RHC)-- Striking transportation workers shut down the London underground Monday, grinding key services in the city of more than 8.6 million to a halt to demand better working conditions as millions of commuters struggled to get to work. 

Commuters used cars, boats, bicycles and heaving buses to cope with a 24-hour walkout by underground station staff that left the majority of "Tube" stops in central London closed and no services operating from mainline stations such as Victoria, Kings Cross and Waterloo. 

Huge queues began building up outside stations while many major roads in the city were gridlocked.  Central demands of the strike include better staffing levels.  Monday's walkout on the Tube, which carries up to 4.8 million passengers a day, begins a week of industrial action which will hit rail and air passengers. 

Train drivers on Southern Rail are striking on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, bringing all rail services used by hundreds of thousands of passengers from the south coast and Gatwick Airport to London to a halt. 

The Sunday Times newspaper said the dispute could spread to services in central and northern England as other operators look to bring in driver-only trains.  On Tuesday, British Airways staff also began a strike for two days over pay.