It seems the rail network is pretty quiet in the second day of the dispute between the RMT union and First Great Western, but there are some problems.

• Bethan ‏tweets, external: 3 carriages to get to Cardiff. Already absolutely rammed by the 3rd stop. Cosy... #fgwstrike

• Martin Gilbraith frets on Twitter, external: ‏After Scotland and Northern Ireland, for my third busman's holiday in 3 weeks I am travelling today to west Wales in a #railstrike

• Zubair Mohammad comments, external: Ironically the trains are running the same due to strike action. @FGW guess you've got a load of useless people on your books. #railstrike

• My6Percent jokes on Twitter, external: ‏Hearing delay announcements and guessing the number of minutes, reminds me of Play your cards Right. "Higher, higher! Lower!" #fgwstrike

Oxford Mail

People travelling to the Cornbury Festival today have been warned there will be a limited train service due to the strike, external.

First Great Western says trains from Oxford to Paddington and Worcester to Charlbury will be affected.

David Brown sends us this picture, external via Twitter, saying: @bbcpointswest @BBCNews a train at temple meads but it is parked! Only 4 trains leaving between 7 and 8 #railstrike

Image source, David Brown

The 18:30 end of the strike by RMT workers may be in sight - but First Great Western has warned it will take some time to get services running normally again.

It is likely trains will be affected until Saturday morning. FGW has asked passengers to keep an eye on its website, external.

Image source, FGW

Andrew Humphrey
BBC Local Live

At the moment Oxford Station is a picture of calm. Passengers are making their way through the concourse easily and all the departure boards are showing trains leaving on time, despite the rail strike.

It may or may not be connected, but the cycle racks outside Oxford Station, which are usually full to overflowing, appear a little less busier today, with spaces available.

Matt Pengelly
Local Live

Despite the rail strike, it felt like "business as usual" at Swindon train station as a moderate crowd of passengers waited on platform 3 for the 10:11 train to London.

Local Stephen Appleton, who has a visit to a convention in London planned, said he was worried the strike could "mess up his whole day".

And Karen Sevilla from Kemble, who was seeing her daughters off to an Ed Sheeran concert in the capital, described the reasons for the strike as "nonsense" and "not worth all the fuss".

Western Morning News

Striking railway workers have urged First Great Western to get back to the negotiating table as the action which has crippled the network enters its second day, reports the Western Morning News., external

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union said support for the action was "rock solid" with pickets out in force at many stations.

Although the 48-hour stoppage is due to end at 18:30, it is unlikely the service will get back to normal until tomorrow when workers clock back on to their shift.

Earlier Gary Welch tweeted this photo of Reading station, saying "Quiet station. Seat on train. Train on time. Best day on the trains in years!".

Image source, Gary Welch

Well, he got in touch later via Twitter, external to say: journey just improved. I have been told to go and sit in an empty 1st class carriage #lovefgwstrikes

Image source, Gary Welch

David Bailey
BBC News

It's much quieter than usual here at Gloucester station on day two of the rail strike. The woman in the ticket office told me: "There's no-one here. The only customers who are buying tickets are people who didn't know the strike was on. Everybody else has stayed at home."

She adds that there's nothing running on the Stroud line at all, but services are running to Bristol "and you can get pretty much everywhere from there".

There is no-one manning the ticket barrier, which has been left open so travellers can walk through without using their tickets to operate it - just like the old days. But the trains that are running are all running to time.

Once again, the hashtags #railstrike, #strike and #fgw are providing an insight on what's happening across the First Great Western network on the second day of the train strike. Things seem remarkably peaceful:

• Karen Crowther tweets, external: Well on on a train, may only have 2 coaches but I got a seat, huge thanks to everyone who decided not travel today! #railstrike

• Steve Daniels ‏agrees on Twitter, external: Strikes seem to be the way ahead for the trains. Best service I've had in ages, train empty, today's even left early #fgw #funnyoldworld

• Mahesh Patel tweets, external: ‏All quiet in the quiet carriage to Cardiff #Ashes #FGW

Michael Stoddard
BBC News, Southampton

It's worth recapping that First Great Western say the new trains, which are at the centre of the row, will actually need more workers not fewer.

Mark Hopwood said, external "existing pay and conditions [would be protected]" and there would be "no compulsory redundancies for station and customer service staff".

"There will, however, be an impact on some of our engineering depots when maintenance work on the new trains transfers to the train provider as part of their contract procured by government," he said.

Andrew Humphrey
BBC Local Live

Union leaders have paid tribute to the "fighting spirit" of their activists and workers as industrial action at First Great Western stretches into a second day.

RMT, external rep Tony Hall says he has been on the Oxford picket line for 32 hours and has had hundreds of people offer him and fellow strikers their support.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "The solidarity, unity and fighting spirit of RMT members the length and breadth of the FGW franchise has been a fantastic example for the whole trade union movement."

Press Association

London Underground services are back to normal after a 24-hour strike closed the entire system, causing travel misery for millions of commuters and holidaymakers.

The walk-out ended last night but no Tubes had run all day, forcing people to take packed buses or boats, switch to bikes or walk.

London Underground bosses have contacted the conciliation service Acas to help arrange fresh talks over the dispute, although any meetings are not expected until next week.

Matt Pengelly
Local Live

Managers at First Great Western say they're hopeful they will be able to run more services than timetabled on the second day of industrial action.

A near-full service is running in the London and Thames Valley area and about 50% of long-distance services are running - but local branch lines outside the Thames Valley are generally not able to run. There's more travel advice here, external.

A FGW spokesman said: "We had more people turn in for work than expected yesterday, which increased the number of people available for us to run trains by around 10%."

Commuters and train users have taken to social media to vent their anger or offer praise to both the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and First Great Western.

• @Rocketfrancis tweets, external: @RMTunion was really looking forward to taking my 65 year old Dad to his 1st ever Ashes game 2morro. But cant now thanks to ur #railstrike

• Anna Mikis tweets, external: Horrible #FirstGreatWestern strike. ~50minute Bristol T.M. to Cardiff Central trip is taking me almost 1h45m to do. #notahappycustomer @FGW

• @Wendylockel tweets, external: It does seem like the Thames Valley is largely unaffected by the train strikes! #thankful #FirstGreatWestern

Matt Pengelly
Local Live

The RMT has said pickets are out in force again this morning as the dispute between the union and First Great Western ‎enters its second full day.

Image source, RMT

RMT, external general secretary Mick Cash said: "Our pickets have reported strong public support for this action as the people who use these routes know only too well what profiteering and cuts mean in terms of ‎their safety and the quality of service."

In an open letter to passengers, external, FGW managing director Mark Hopwood said he was "determined to continue talking to the RMT to try and find a way to resolve this matter".

First Great Western (FGW) has given this guidance on refunds, external for those who are unable to travel, or choose not to, between Thursday and Saturday because of the strike.

• Customers who bought tickets from a FGW station or ticket machine, and have them in their possession but were unable to travel, can take them back to their point of purchase

• If tickets were not purchased via a FGW outlet please refer back to the original point of purchase

• If purchased via telephone or online you will need to post your tickets to FGW along with a refund form

Gary Welch tweets, external from Reading station: Ahhhh. Empty platforms. Quiet station. Seat on train. Train on time. #FGW can you go on strike next week too? Best day on the trains in years!

Image source, Gary Welsh

Steve Burnley ‏agrees, tweeting, external: Hey @FGW Could you arrange a strike every day please? Train is on time and has spare seats #unusual

The First Great Western social media team were hard at work through the night, dealing with complaints and queries.

You can see from the firm's Twitter feed, external the questions slowed right down in the early hours but picked up again this morning.

Oxford Mail

The rail strike caused delays and disruption for passengers travelling to London from Oxford yesterday, reports the Oxford Mail, external.

The industrial action began after 11th-hour crisis talks between rail bosses and union RMT broke down on Wednesday.

FGW said a reduced number of trains for rail passengers travelling from Oxford to London Paddington will operate, but with delays and cancellations to be expected over the strike period.