Despite being late for work, experiencing torrential rain and long train delays, Kate* found time to send a message to Sydney rail workers: "Come on guys, take this deal. It's ridiculous and the impact is huge."

She said everyone was suffering from the cost of living crisis and "we all want good wages". "It's going to have a huge impact on people, especially people who have no choice but to rely on trains," said the architect, who works in the CBD.

Kate was referring to the United Rail Union's demand for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years, higher than the 15 per cent proposed by the NSW government. Others the Guardian spoke to at Grand Central Station on Thursday echoed her sentiments.

Commuters braced for further delays and cancellations on Thursday morning as ongoing strike action plunged the city's rail network into chaos on Wednesday.

The train network was experiencing long delays, service cancellations and long intervals between trains on Thursday morning. The worst affected lines include the T1 North Shore and Western Line, T2 Leppington and Inner West, T3 Liverpool and Inner West, T8 Airport and Southern Line, Blue Mountains Line, South Coast Line and Central Coast and Newcastle Line.

More than 100 train services were canceled on Thursday morning, with major disruption expected on a number of lines throughout the day. There are 64 buses operating at various locations to supplement the train services.

Kate said she had to take buses and trains to get to work. Heavy rain in Sydney added another 30 minutes to her commute.

"Usually it takes me about an hour to get to the CBD but today it took me an hour and a half, which seems pretty good considering some of the delays," she said.

"Our bus got stuck because of tree branches in the road so there were delays everywhere. It turned out to be an epic trip just to get to work. It was so exhausting."

Sales representative Alex*, who arrived in the city from Sydney's south, said the two-day delay had left him and his boss frustrated.

"It's just too much. It sucks, I hate it, my boss hates it, and we're all frustrated. Now my boss is mad because I'm late."

He said he sat at the station for "half an hour at a time" on Wednesday afternoon waiting for his train home, only to be delayed by an hour on Thursday morning.

He said the delays were eroding public support for the union.

"A lot of people are turning against unions now because it disrupts normal people's lives. What does it really do for them? It doesn't seem to affect anyone other than us working hard."

The delays on Wednesday, which lasted until Thursday, were the result of a series of strike action, including by members of the Electrical Union (ETU), who refused to carry out essential maintenance at Bondi and Homebush stations.

The quieter-than-usual central bank reflects the possibility that many workers may choose to work from home if they can, to avoid bad weather and strikes.

Ellie*, another city architect, was also late for work. She said the disruptions made her commute from Ashfield more difficult.

"It's deeply frustrating. It was frustrating yesterday and it's frustrating today. I had to leave an hour early today ... and I'm still late for work."

"You can feel people here are turning against them (the union). It's just so disruptive, my boyfriend had to miss multiple meetings yesterday. It's the first week back so the timing isn't ideal."

Sydney Trains and Transport for NSW apologized for the delays on Wednesday. They said only 4.7% of services ran on time or within five minutes of timetable, with 95% of services delayed or cancelled.

Ultimately, as of Wednesday, 1,913 flights were canceled and 1,035 were delayed. Only one of our 327 afternoon peak services runs on time.

* Respondents did not wish their full names to be published.

- with AAP