Good evening.

We are pausing our live rail strike updates for the day, but join us again tomorrow for the latest on this week’s third walkout as weekend travel chaos looms.

Thank you.

The TransPennine Express has released a list of the last trains running on its reduced service today.

Here is the list of last services running on 23 and 25 June:

16:11 - Sheffield to Cleethorpes

16:15 - York to Manchester Piccadily

16:24 - Cleethorpes to Sheffield

16:27 - Manchester Piccadily to York

16:50 - Preston to Manchester Airport

17:10 - Manchester Airport to Preston

A senior union leader has warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the railway strikes “may end” the Labour party.

Starmer has infuriated many on the left of the party by ordering Labour frontbenchers to stay away from picket lines during the RMT dispute which brought much of the UK’s rail network to a halt for a second day today.

The comment by Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef and co-chair with Starmer of the Tulo organisation which co-ordinates union support for Labour, reflects the depth of the rift within the movement over the leader’s stance.

Read the full story from our political editor, Andrew Woodcock:

RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey said he thinks “the public is behind us” in supporting rail strikes.

He told the PA news agency: “It's difficult for everybody but I think the public is behind us.

“They understand it's a scandal that billions are being ripped out of our industry at the same time workers are being punished.

“Teachers, they're facing a cost-of-living crisis, (also) posties, telecoms workers, health workers.

“We think there's going to be more demands for increases in pay in the economy and we think that's right.

“It's about time Britain had a pay rise. Wages have been falling for 30 years and corporate profits have been going through the roof.”

Picketing rail workers at Euston station said they have been inundated with food from sympathetic commuters as they pledged to continue their strike.

“The public is definitely on our side, I've never seen so much support from the public,” RMT regional organiser Kathy Mazur said.

“See here - the food, water, that's from members of the public dropping off,” she continued, gesturing to two tubs of M&S chocolate mini-bites set next to a stack of hi-vis RMT vests.

“Tuesday, the amount of food we had, we were giving away to the homeless people. Really, really great support from the public.”

One passer-by, carrying a large suitcase up the steps to Euston, declined a leaflet but sounded sympathetic.

“It is what it is - they deserve a bit more money, but we're in a vicious circle with inflation,” she said.

Broadband provider Virgin Media O2 said it recorded an increase in usage of up to 10% on the first day of the strikes on Tuesday, indicating that “millions more people are working from home” this week.

A spokesman says the company saw a peak 5 per cent week-on-week increase in its broadband upstream traffic, due to the rise in video calls on platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

More railway workers are to vote on strikes, threatening fresh disruption in the industry throughout the summer, it was announced on Thursday.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) served notice to ballot dozens of members at TransPennine Express (TPE) for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security.

The union is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living.

The ballot opens on 29 June and closes in mid-July, so the earliest that industrial action could be taken is 27 July.

The TSSA is also balloting its members in Network Rail, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER, C2C and Great Western Railway (GWR) in an escalating dispute across the railway.

TPE runs trains across northern England and Scotland.

Boris Johnson has urged railway staff to work with the government as he branded the strikes this week as a “terrible idea”.

The prime minister was speaking during a visit to the Rwandan capital of Kigali, while at home commuters and travellers have faced disruption due the second second strike of the week by railway workers.

Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators walked out again on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions.

Just one in five trains are running, and they are mostly restricted to main lines, with around half of the network closed.

“I just think it is important to remember that these strikes are unnecessary. I think people should get around the table and sort it out,” Mr Johnson said.

The prime minister promised that he wanted a "great future" for British railways, stressing his own experience as Mayor of London between 2008 and 2016.

“This is a government that is investing more in railways than any previous government in the last 50 years,” he said.

An RMT official has warned that the cost-of-living crisis means this week's rail strikes could just be the start of Britain's industrial strife.

Kathy Mazur, the RMT's first female regional organiser, said: “I think people are just fed up, inflation is going through the roof, no one's had a pay-rise in three years.

“Our union has led the way on this and people now are starting to see exactly what's going on and you'll see more of this.

“You'll see more unions taking the same action that we've taken.”

Speaking outside Euston station in central London, Ms Mazur continued: “I have gone to five picket lines this morning and they've all been rock solid.

“The members are in it for the long haul - this is their jobs, their security, their pay, and their pension, and they are not willing to give up on that.”

Commons Leader Mark Spencer suggested implementing minimum service levels for the railways is “worthy of further debate”.

Conservative MP Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) said: “The strikes this week have been incredibly disruptive for so many of my constituents."

He added: “Would my right honourable friend agree to a debate on implementing minimum service levels, similar to those in Italy and Spain, so that we can limit the harm that these strikes do to our people?”

Commons Leader Mark Spencer said the strikes are causing “devastation” and encouraged the unions “to get back round the table and to negotiate with Network Rail directly”.

He added: “I thank the honourable gentleman for raising this matter again, I think it is something which is worthy of further debate.”

Asked elsewhere in the session when the government's proposal on the use of agency workers during industrial action will be brought for debate in the Commons, Mr Spencer said: “I don't have to hand the specific time and when that will be brought forward.”