London, February 6 (RHC)-- Londoners endured yet another day of travel chaos as the 48-hour strike by tube workers continued on Thursday. 

London Underground workers began the first in a series of industrial actions late on Tuesday, over controversial plans to close ticket offices and scrap hundreds of jobs in the British capital.  Services returned to normal later on Thursday but another 48-hour strike is planned for the next week.

Talks between members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) in one side and Transport for London (TfL) on the other side are due to resume on Friday in a bid to avert the second walkout.

Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson has agreed to meet union leaders on Friday.  He had earlier refused to meet unless unions called off the industrial action.  The strikes are in protest against major changes to the tube announced by Johnson and the TfL in November last year.

Under the new plans, aimed at saving about £50 million a year, more than 750 people will lose their jobs, all 260 tube ticket offices across the network will be closed, and a new 24-hour service will be running over the weekends.