People queue up for bus transport in London on Thursday. The Underground handles 4 million journeys a day, and the strike by members of four unions will likely paralyze the capital's transport system, despite extra bus and river services.[Photo/IC]

"We listened to their concerns over work-life balance and put forward an extremely fair, revised offer," Brown said.

All four unions taking part in the strike said they supported night services but said the plans would destroy their members' work/life balance.

"Our dispute is not with the travelling public - it is with those who have botched the introduction of Night Tube and who are trying to plug staffing gaps by wrecking any chance of a decent work/life balance for our members," said RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said.