PASSENGERS will be plunged into danger on a “chaotic” Underground network unless plans for all-night running are suspended indefinitely, a Tube union said last night on the eve of planned strike action.

The London Underground will shut down from 6.30pm today until Friday morning as members of unions RMT, Aslef, TSSA and Unite walk out over changes to shift patterns.

London Mayor Boris Johnson hopes to launch the new “Night Tube” on the Piccadilly, Northern, Jubilee and Victoria lines on September 12.

But RMT said yesterday it was an “open secret” that managers believed the project could not be delivered on time without unleashing “repeated chaos.”

General secretary Mick Cash delivered a fierce attack on the plan, saying commuters paying high fares would see their services “reduced to chaos so that a few thousand revellers can be shipped home in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday morning.”

He said: “Despite all the bluster from Boris Johnson, Londoners need to be aware that Night Tube was rushed and botched from the off.

“We urgently need to get talks convened with Tube professionals who understand the reasons behind a crisis which should never have been allowed to get this far.”

TUC assistant general secretary Paul Nowak delivered a message of solidarity to the strikers in the run-up to the walkout.

“The Tube network is vital to the travelling public and the economy, but London Underground must not ride roughshod over the wellbeing of their employees,” he said.

“Any significant change to working hours should be the subject of proper negotiation and agreement. Anyone who was told by their boss that they would have to start working through the night would expect that to be agreed and not imposed.”

But a spokesman for Mr Johnson called the latest pay offer to workers “fair, sensible and generous.”

He added: “The fact is that the Night Tube is well supported by Londoners and by businesses across the capital.

“The mayor believes that most reasonable people see its introduction as a progressive move for transport in our city.”