Boris Johnson visits tube strike taxi-sharing rank at London Bridge

The Mayor of London stopped off at London Bridge Station on his way to catch a train to Croydon.

At London Bridge he met one of the marshals at Transport for London's special taxi-sharing rank and briefed reporters on London Underground's dispute with the RMT union.

Special marshalled taxi ranks operated at Waterloo Station and London Bridge Station on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Commuters could collect a ticket from a marshal who would then allocate them to a taxi with up to four other passengers travelling to the same part of Central London. Each passenger then paid a fixed price for the journey.

"I've just cycled through the centre of this wonderful city," said Mr Johnson. "I've seen hundreds of thousands of people getting to work, beating the strike by their own initiative and through some of the measures we've put in place to help them with bicycles, the marshalled taxi scheme and many other measures."

Some of the Mayor's special initiatives for the two tube strike days have proved more popular than others.

Many commuters have enjoyed the free boat shuttle between Waterloo, Westminster and Tower piers and extra boats have been laid on by Thames Clippers who operate daily commuter river services.

However the special bicycle parking provided by Transport for London in Potters Fields Park and at Waterloo Bus Garage in Cornwall Road has been less of a hit.

TfL provided spaces for 150 bikes at Waterloo Bus Garage but at 11am on Wednesday only one cyclist had made use of the facility.