Commuters in London are turning to bikes, buses and boats as a staff strike shuts down the capital's underground network for a second day.

With almost no Tube trains running until Friday, demand for shared bike services and river transport surged as Londoners looked for alternative ways to get to work, causing longer journeys and crowding on other parts of the transport network.

The London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates the strike will have a direct impact on the London economy of Stg230 million ($A472 million), and cost millions more indirectly.

Lime, which operates electric bikes across the city, said it had a 58 per cent increase in trips during Monday's morning peak compared with the same period a week earlier.

"Journeys were longer in both distance and

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