Rail strike causes travel chaos for thousands with worse threatened

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More than 150,000 commuters will suffer again tomorrow as the 48-hour strike continues to cripple all routes.

Routes from Stansted Airport, Southend Victoria, Colchester and Norwich were reduced to one train an hour.

Liverpool Street was a ghost station. Commuters trying to board the few packed trains were advised to spread their journeys as much as possible.

Pickets were on duty outside the main stations, including Liverpool Street, and train depots.

Union bosses say they will increase strike action next week and "lock down" the entire East Anglia network in the ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions. They said the strike was "solidly supported".

The latest strike is a repeat of action last week and two more 48-hour stoppages are scheduled for 13 to 14 and 20 to 21 August. The unions have refused to rule out further strikes after that.

The industry's two most powerful unions, Aslef and the RMT, have joined forces in the dispute. Next week a third, the TSSA, will also get involved. The unions and National Express East Anglia each accuse the other of causing the dispute and no further talks are planned until Monday.

The rail firm said it was only able to run a "very limited train service". It hoped to run just over 100 services today compared with the usual 1,800.

Andrew Chivers, National Express East Anglia managing director, apologised to passengers and condemned the unions' "unrealistic" pay demands. He said they turned down an appeal to suspend the strike to allow further discussion.

"We also asked the unions to put our revised offer to their members but this request has also been refused," he said. "We believe that continuing strike action is inappropriate and unnecessary."

Mr Chivers said Aslef, the train drivers' union, was demanding a minimum pay increase of £1,000, taking the average driver's earnings to more than £42,000 over the next year.

An Aslef spokesman said it had never put a figure on its claim.

Bob Crow, the RMT leader, said: "Our members have shown again that they are solid, angry and determined to secure a fair deal from a company that is obsessed with maximising profits."