RAIL workers are staging a 48-hour strike over pay.

The 48 hour walkout from today will hit National Express East Anglia, linking Essex with London Liverpool Streer.

The company warned it would only be able to run a limited services on routes.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and Aslef are joining forces to take industrial action, with three further 48 hour strikes planned for next month.

Andrew Chivers, managing director of National Express East Anglia, said: "The unions' demands are totally unrealistic, especially in this current economic climate.

"We have offered salary increases above the rate of inflation, and remain available at any time for discussions to reach a sensible, affordable and fair agreement.

"Strike action is unnecessary, simply not the solution and I would like to apologise to our customers."

The company claimed that Aslef wanted a minimum pay increase of 2.5%, a four day working week for all its members and a 4% increase in the number of train drivers, but the union denied it made these demands.

Talks between the two sides failed to break the deadlock earlier this week, with the unions claiming there had been a breakdown in industrial relations.

An alternative timetable is being drawn up by the company, which warned passengers that services which will run during the strike will be extremely busy.

The RMT says National Express made nearly half a billion in profits from their rail operations in the past ten years while "sucking in" nearly £2.5billion in public subsidies over the same period.

The union added that on the East Anglia franchise the company hasbeen able to cream off an extra £17.3 million since 2006 in revenue support courtesy of the taxpayer in a gold-plated “cap and collar” deal with the government.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: "he strikes on National Express East Anglia come down to one simple fact - this is a greedy company, pumped full of public subsidies who now expect their staff to take a hit on their pay and working conditions while the top bosses fatten up their profits at the expense of the travelling public and the workforce.

“National Express have already created chaos through the impending collapse of their franchise on the East Coast route and under the franchise rules they should be given notice to quit on East Anglia and c2c lines.

"The sooner the the government kick them off the tracks and renationalise all their franchises the better.”