Thousands face nightmare journey home as strike hits Liverpool Street

Rail commuters face horrendous journeys home this evening in a repeat of the delays they suffered getting into London this morning.

And they will suffer more travel misery tomorrow in the second half of the 48-hour strike affecting all National Express East Anglia services to and from Liverpool Street station.

Liverpool Street, usually packed with commuters, was today a ghost station during the morning peak as commuter rail lines were brought to a near-standstill by the walk-out.

National Express East Anglia services to and from Liverpool Street were crippled, with just a skeleton service as more than 150,000 passengers faced major disruption.

Many took hours longer to get to work and some gave up and went home. The regular timetable was scrapped and replaced with an emergency hourly service to London from Colchester and Southend Victoria. The Stansted Express ran once an hour instead of every 15 minutes and there was a small number of peak trains on the Norwich to London route. Routes from the east run by other operators, including the East Coast main line, c2c and First Capital Connect, suffered worse overcrowding than usual as commuters tried other routes into London.

The industry's two most powerful unions, Aslef and the RMT, joined forces to bring virtually the entire franchise to its knees, ordering the strike in a long-running row over pay and working conditions. Pickets, including RMT leader Bob Crow, were on duty at main stations, including Liverpool Street, and train depots. Three more 48-hour stoppages are scheduled for consecutive Thursdays and Fridays next month.

Mr Crow, on the picket line at Liverpool Street, said: "The strike has been solidly supported across the franchise. Managers are running a token ghost service on a handful of lines as a publicity stunt. We're available today. We're calling on the company to get around the table." He said the strike had been caused "by greedy National Express bosses who have soaked up £2.5 billion in taxpayer subsidy in the past 10 years and are now milking the franchise for every penny they can get while treating their staff like dirt".

Andrew Chivers, the firm's managing director, said: "The unions' demands are totally unrealistic. We have offered salary increases above the rate of inflation and remain available for discussions to reach a sensible, affordable and fair agreement."

He said Aslef wants a minimum pay increase of 2.5 per cent, a four-day working week and four per cent more drivers. Andy Morrison, district officer for Aslef, said this was a "total fabrication". "We have never put a figure on the pay claim and never demanded 2.5 per cent or a four-day week."

The unions say National Express has offered "peanuts" with only a 0.5 per cent pay rise or a lump sum of £200 to East Anglia employees. They say it can afford to pay more after it slapped a six per cent above-inflation fare rise on commuters in January and cut 300 jobs.