Rail users faced further misery today as workers walked out in a second 48-hour strike.

Services run by South West Trains in the South East were crippled, including trains from Brighton to Reading via Chichester.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union went ahead with their second 48-hour strike in a week, after talks broke down last night.

Commuters changing to South West Trains services into London's Waterloo station were also affected.

The union's executive is expected to meet later this week and is likely to call for further 48-hour walkouts in a row over pay and the disciplining of union members.

In some parts of the south east SWT laid on buses for season ticket holders, but its 350,000 daily passengers were still experiencing massive disruption.

SWT and RMT held more than 15 hours of talks during the weekend, overseen by the conciliation service ACAS.

Each side blamed the other for the deadlock as the talks broke up in acrimony last night.

The row centres on Waterloo-based driver Greg Tucker, who was downgraded to ticket collector last year after an incident which the company maintained was safety-related.

The union said he was being victimised and complained about an absence of disciplinary procedures which affected several union representatives.

South West Trains managing director Andrew Haines said today the company was faced by intransigence from the RMT.

He said: "Tuesday's strike is now about one man, and we've sorted all the other issues.

"It is hard not to get the impression that they are determined to have that strike as a testimonial for that individual."

Rail season ticket holders will pay less for their journeys after fares were slashed.

South Central, which runs services throughout Sussex, including many of the main commuter routes to London, has cut the cost of all season tickets by at least five per cent.

Prices for season tickets on its Sussex Coast services have been cut by seven per cent, a substantial saving for many commuters.

South West Trains has cut the price of peak-time tickets by an average of 1.4 per cent.

The fares came into effect yesterday.