The UK’s biggest rail strike for decades will halt most trains throughout Saturday, with unions combining industrial action for the first time this year.
There will be no trains in many areas, with no direct services on some intercity routes between London and Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.
With drivers and signalmen on strike, only about 11% of normal timetables will be in operation. The disruption will be significantly worse than during other rail strikes this year, as members of the RMT, Aslef and TSSA unions will be on strike for 24 hours, timed to coincide with the start of the Conservative conference in Birmingham.
Strikes planned for last month were called off due to the period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The few trains running will start later and finish earlier than usual. Avanti West Coast will not run any trains and there will be no services between England and Wales.
Network Rail has advised passengers who still wish to travel on Saturday to only do so if absolutely necessary, to expect disruption and to check National Rail Inquiries or train operator websites for updates, particularly for times of the last train to leave. Services will also be disrupted on Sunday morning, with a later start as staff return to work.
New strikes are also planned for Wednesday 5 October by Aslef drivers, and on Saturday 8 October by the RMT union.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said more strikes were likely. While union leaders held talks with train operators in recent days, as well as holding meetings with new transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan last month, Whelan said they were no closer to a resolution
Demands from drivers to lift the pay freeze had only increased, he said: “The government is making it harder and harder. They are telling businesses we can’t have a pay rise, and they are lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses up to four times their salary.
“Food and energy prices are going through the roof, mortgage rates and rent, while we’ve seen the top 350 FTSE companies increase their profits by 73%. Inflation is not being driven by workers’ pay , it’s a profit.”
Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at the Rail Delivery Group, said the strikes were “unnecessary and damaging”. He added: “They disrupt passenger plans, undermine struggling businesses, affect major events and harm industry recovery.”
More people across the UK support rail strikes than oppose them, with 43% backing unions and 31% opposed, according to the Ipsos Mori poll. A slight majority, 52%, say they sympathize with rail unions, with 40% saying they have little or no sympathy, while the majority say they have no sympathy for Network Rail or train operators (52%) or the government (64%).