London's trains make the strain

It is London's inefficient metro system, the London Underground or the Tube, as it is known. It both infuriates employers and drives their staff to seek imaginative alternative methods of transport.

A spokesman for the London Chamber of Commerce says: 'Transport is the number one issue for the business community. If London is going to compete effectively as a leading location for international business it needs a transport system that can service it.

'What we have at the moment is a transport system that is suffering from years of under-investment. It is a problem that requires urgent attention.'

Cancelled trains, mid-tunnel stoppages and chronic overcrowding can all induce frustration and fury for passengers, the effects of which linger long past the often defective escalators.

A survey by the Industrial Society found that nearly 90% of managers in London felt that the London Underground has negative or very negative effects on its organisation. Lateness, stress, and reduced productivity were among them.

Bickering between the UK government and Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, over the best way to improve the service is delaying any solution.

With banks such as Goldman Sachs cutting back on taxi allowances because of the economic downturn, Tube trauma among employees can only get worse.

Tom Shorten, managing director of the valet service Enviego, says staff of investment banks are increasingly requesting taxi-bikes for journeys, if their employers will pay for the service.

They are in particular demand when Tube staff go on strike, as they are threatening to do again on May 15. 'It's either that, or coming in by car at 5.15am to avoid the traffic,' Shorten says.

The drawbacks of the Underground - and similar problems with suburban trains - are such that many have opted for permanent alternatives. Getting to Canary Wharf, in particular, continues to present a problem, despite the opening of the Jubilee Line Tube extension in 1999.

'I tried the Tube but, with reasonable frequency, it doesn't work. Now I go by boat, where I am able to drink wine during the journey in the evening,' says a managing director at a US bank at the Wharf.

Others are risking life and limb. Richard Evans, a programme trader at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, travels to Canary Wharf by moped from his home 15 miles away in Sutton, south London.

'It is not a question of if, but when, I fall off. But I do it because it takes me twice as long on public transport,' he says - an hour instead of 30 minutes.

Evans' difficulty staying upright is unlikely to elicit much sympathy from Canary Wharf, which condemns suggestions that it is out on a limb as 'wholly out of date'.

Jubilee Line managers, too, are quick to defend themselves. 'We all want to get to the platform, for the train to arrive and to take us directly to our destination and to stop nowhere else. Unfortunately, that is not possible,' says a spokesperson.

Trains in other financial centres appear to offer a more pleasant experience than those in London.

'Getting to Wall Street is an infinitely easier proposition. Subway trains arrive every two minutes and are air-conditioned. In London you wait for three trains and then get stuck in a tunnel,' says Enviego's Shorten, who used to work in New York as a derivatives salesman at Deutsche Bank.

The man regarded by many as the saviour of New York's subway, Bob Kiley, is now working with Ken Livingstone to try to his success in London.

But ahead of New York, Zurich may be the most pleasant financial centre to move around in. In a survey by human resources consultant William M Mercer, Zurich ranked number one for quality of living. Christian Sulger Buel, a Swiss-born recruitment consultant, is not surprised.

'Life in Zurich is very good. There are brilliant buses, trains and trams. The main train station is in the heart of the financial district,' he says.

Frankfurt also has an excellent reputation. Jenns Tonn of Candover Private Equity says: 'The very good thing about Frankfurt is that it only takes 15 minutes to get from the city centre to the airport. Many bankers live in the Westend area, which is a desirable residential district right next to the banking centre.'

This could be the key to London's problem. For despite the tribulations of the Tube, relatively few of London's bankers appear willing to live near their offices in the City or Canary Wharf.

'People remain determined to live in the nicest residential parts of London, and that often means Kensington or Chelsea,' says Willy Gething, managing director at Property Vision, a property consultancy. It doesn't really wash that people want to live above the office. You want to get out of the train to cinemas, restaurants and shops.'

But some question whether the Tube is really that bad. The Industrial Society's survey found that 12% of managers were satisfied with it. David Soanes, a managing director at UBS Warburg, agrees. 'I travel in every day from the West End and it is awesome. Getting to the City of London is terrific. I would happily pay double for my season ticket.'