Passengers around Britain are set for another day of disrupted trains and curtailed services on the railway as a 48-hour RMT strike continues on Wednesday.
The two-day strike, the first in a wave of industrial action that will affect the railway for four weeks around Christmas, involves about 40,000 members of the RMT union in Network Rail and at 14 train operators.
Network Rail has advised passengers to only attempt to travel by train if absolutely necessary and urged them to plan ahead and check with operators for the latest information, with about 20% of normal services running.
A regular but reduced service will run on main intercity and urban lines between 7.30am and 6.30pm, while there will be no trains at all in parts of rural England, Scotland and Wales.
Disruption is also expected on Thursday morning after the strike, and before another 48-hour strike follows from Friday.
Hopes of any quick resolution appeared dashed after the prime minister ruled out any relaxation on pay policy for the public sector on Tuesday. Although the government has insisted that pay increases in the sector are a matter for the employers, it effectively controls rail finances and is intent on keeping rises below inflation.
In comments to his cabinet on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak said the government was unable to shift its position on pay, adding: “While the government will do all we can to minimise disruption, the only way we can stop it completely is by unions going back around the table and calling off these strikes.”
Royal Mail workers in the CWU will also strike again on Wednesday in the latest of a series of six days of industrial action in the run-up to Christmas, with nurses starting strike action on Thursday.
Rail bosses and unions signalled they would not budge in the pay dispute, with the general secretary of the RMT, Mick Lynch, saying there was “no deal in sight”.
Network Rail said that the improved deal rejected in a referendum this week was its “best and final” offer.
After national strikes today and 16-17 December, an overtime ban across 14 train operating companies will affect services from 18 December until 2 January, before more strikes on 3-4 and 6-7 January. A strike at Network Rail from 6pm on 24 December to the morning of 27 December will halt passenger services earlier on Christmas Eve, but mainly affect engineering works.
