Rail passengers on busy commuter and other routes are facing fresh travel chaos after more strikes by train drivers were announced in a long-running row over pay and conditions.
The drivers' union Aslef said its members at National Express East Anglia will walk out for a week from September 21 after failing to accept a deal aimed at ending the dispute.
Workers staged a series of strikes last month but the action was suspended after a new deal was put forward. Aslef said its 800 members had refused to accept the deal.
National Express East Anglia managing director Andrew Chivers said he was "extremely disappointed" that Aslef rejected the pay offer.
He said it amounted to a salary increase of at least 4% within a year.
"Even though our offer has been accepted by the RMT and TSSA unions by over 80% votes in their ballots, Aslef is planning to cause further unnecessary and totally unjustified disruption to our customers who have already suffered enough through the earlier series of strikes.
"We will be asking Aslef for urgent talks to avert any further strike action," he added.
Last month's strikes hit busy commuter and other services between London and Essex, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association took part in the last strikes, which caused misery for thousands of commuters.
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