The railway network has been thrown into chaos today as union members down tools in a long-running pay dispute.

Operators in Sussex are either running an extremely limited service or have cancelled all trains entirely on the first of two consecutive strike days.

There are no Gatwick Express or Southeastern services running in the county today while Southern and Thameslink are reduced to two trains an hour from Brighton.

Gatwick will be serviced by the reduced Thameslink and Southern trains running between London and Brighton, though they will be calling at just a handful of stations.

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Tomorrow, there will be no trains at all anywhere in the county as Aslef members walk out, the union largely comprising train drivers.

Today’s strikes were called by the RMT union.

RMT leader Mick Lynch told the Evening Standard that the strikes have been a success in blocking redundancies and ticket office closures but members are still picketing for a pay increase.