Talks aimed at resolving the Southern Rail drivers' dispute will be held at the conciliation service Acas today as thousands of commuters in south London remain stranded for another day.

The move followed informal discussions on Tuesday on the first day of a 48-hour walkout by members of Aslef, which halted all the company's services.

All of Southern's 2,242 weekday services were cancelled yesterday, causing the worst disruption for more than 20 years.

The strike is still set to go ahead, as well as another 24-hour stoppage planned on Friday, in a long running row over driver-only trains.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling refused to rule out taking action to prevent future stoppages like the one which brought all Southern Rail services to a halt.

Aslef, the RMT and Southern had been coming under increasing pressure to settle bitter disputes over driver-only trains and changes to the role of guards.

Mr Grayling continued to blame the unions for the months of disruption to Southern services and urged them to sit down with the company to resolve the long-running disputes.

But Aslef and the RMT attacked the Government, saying ministers had been preventing Southern from negotiating properly.

Charles Horton, chief executive of Southern's owners, Govia Thameslink Railway, said: "We reached out to Aslef as we said we would and now welcome the opportunity to discuss a way forward with them.

"The travelling public are suffering misery and inconvenience and the impact on the regional economy is significant.

"We assure everyone we are committed to trying to find a solution to the union's dispute."

The RMT claimed its general secretary, Mick Cash, has been "barred" from the talks.

Mr Cash said: "Southern Rail were fully aware last night that I would be attending the talks this morning at Acas alongside our Aslef colleagues.

"This morning, on arrival for the talks, I was told that I would not be allowed to take part by representatives from the company."

But Southern Rail insisted the RMT, which represents 12 drivers involved in the dispute, was not invited.

Nick Brown, chief operating officer of Govia Thameslink Railway, Southern's parent company, said: "We hope today's talks with the Aslef leadership are productive.  

"I have spoken with the general secretary of the RMT this morning and informed him we'd be happy to meet him at Acas later today to talk about any new proposals he has to try and end the conductors' dispute.

"And I also asked him to call off their programme of strikes planned for Christmas and new year."