Week of rail strikes set to cripple Liverpool St

National Express East Anglia services in and out of Liverpool Street station face virtual shutdown with a six-day strike.

It starts when the trains are due to begin running on Monday 21 September and will last until the end of Saturday, the 26th. More than 150,000 passengers a day will be affected.

Members of Aslef, the train drivers' union, this afternoon threw out a new pay and conditions deal and declared a resumption of the strikes which crippled NXEA services on six days last month.

NXEA increased a pay and conditions deal in an effort to halt the strikes.

The three unions involved, Aslef, the RMT and TSSA, ordered new ballots recommending acceptance.

But Aslef members, controlling 800 NXEA drivers, have rejected the deal and reinstated the strike which had only been "suspended" while the new ballot took place.

Aslef general secretary Keith Norman said: "Our members have decided the offer is not good enough. We expect rock-solid support for the action."