The first day back at the office was derailed today as a series of strikes began - with some commuters celebrating they had swerved having to get up early for work.
Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) and ASLEF unions are currently holding industrial action over pay and conditions. A similar action by Network Rail also caused huge Tube delays.
Meanwhile over 100 road traffic officers and control room operators working for National Highways across England are also holding a 48-hour strike on Tuesday.
The disruption to travel - which is damaging the economy - was hailed by commuters who welcomed the opportunity to stay in bed and work from home.
London Bridge Station closed to the public as members of the RMT union take part in strikes
Traffic at the Blackwall tunnel this morning as those not working from home make their way in
Mick Lynch at picket lines at Euston Station this morning as the strikes hit the country today
There were wide celebrations from commuters now allowed to work from home by bosses
One cheered: 'So glad it's train strikes and I get to WFH tomorrow, no way am I ready for my 6am alarm,'
Another celebrated: 'WFH and it's a strike day so technically it's a day to do nothing'.
It comes a day after it was warned that a generation of passengers will be put off the railways forever by the persistent train strikes.
The journeys of millions of people will be hit this week by the militant rail unions and their plot to create the worst disruption in three decades.
PCS Union Workington picket line this morning as they carry out industrial action for more pay
Mr Lynch blamed ministers for blocking a possible agreement between employers and his trade union, which has turned down a pay rise offer of 9 per cent over two years
Mick Lynch has insisted he does not want disruption on the railways, ahead of two 48-hour walkouts by his members that will mean only one in five trains run.
No end to the strikes claims union boss
A union chief has insisted walkouts will continue despite Rishi Sunak’s plan to rush through new anti-strike laws this year.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA which represents senior civil servants, also predicted there will soon be co-ordinated industrial action across the public sector.
Mr Penman told Times Radio: ‘The reality of this is these disputes are about pay.
‘And unless you do deal with that, unless the Government tries to solve that, they might be able to have some minor restrictions around the impact of some of these strikes, but the strikes are going to continue.’
The advice is to only travel if absolutely necessary, allow extra time and check when first and last trains will depart.
There may also be disruption to services on Sunday as the striking workers return to their duties.
On RMT strike days, around half of the network will shut down, with only about 20% of normal services running.
Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual - with services typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm on the day of the strike.
The train drivers' strike on Thursday will affect 15 operators and will result in even fewer services running, with some companies operating 'very significantly reduced' timetables.
Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at the Rail Delivery Group, said: 'No-one wants to see these strikes go ahead, and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this unnecessary and damaging disruption.
'We would advise passengers to only travel if it is absolutely necessary during this period, allow extra time and check when their first and last train will depart. Passengers with tickets for between 3-7 January can use their ticket the day before the ticket date, or up to and including Tuesday 10 January.
January strikes laid out in full across the calendar pages this month from various unions
A generation of passengers will be put off the railways forever by persistent train strike, unions have been warned, as they prepare for another five-day walkout
Who is on strike today?
LNER
Northern trains
Avanti West Coast
Southeastern
Cross Country
Chiltern Railways
Greater Anglia
Govia Thameslink (plus Gatwick Express)
London Underground
West Midlands Trains (plus London Northwestern Railway)
Great Western Railway
Transpennine Express
Network Rail has only enough to allow 20pc of normal capacity to run
'This dispute will only be resolved by agreeing the long overdue reforms to working arrangements needed to put the industry on a sustainable footing, rather than unions condemning their members to losing more pay in the new year.'
Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary, said there 'is an unprecedented level of ministerial interference' preventing a settlement to the dispute.
He said: 'The Government is blocking the union's attempts to reach a negotiated settlement with the rail employers.
'We have worked with the rail industry to reach successful negotiated settlements ever since privatisation in 1993, and we have achieved deals across the network in 2021 and 2022 where the Department for Transport has no involvement.
'Yet in this dispute, there is an unprecedented level of ministerial interference, which is hamstringing rail employers from being able to negotiate a package of measures with us, so we can settle this dispute.
'We will continue our industrial action campaign while we work towards a negotiated resolution.'
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan told the PA news agency that the union is 'in it for the long haul', adding: 'We don't want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place.
'They have not offered our members a penny, and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019.
'That means they expect train drivers at these companies to take a real-terms pay cut - to work just as hard for considerably less - when inflation is running at north of 14%.
'The train companies say their hands have been tied by the Government. While the Government, which does not employ us, says it's up to the companies to negotiate with us.
'We are always happy to negotiate - we never refuse to sit down at the table and talk, but these companies have offered us nothing, and that is unacceptable.'
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: 'Passengers have rightly had enough of rail strikes and want the disruption to end.
'The Government has demonstrated it is being reasonable and stands ready to facilitate a resolution to rail disputes. It's time the unions came to the table and played their part as well.
'Inflation-matching pay increases for all public sector workers would cost everyone more in the long term - worsening debt, fuelling inflation, and costing every household an extra £1,000.
'Unions should step back from this strike action so we can start 2023 by ending this damaging dispute.'
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