Travel by rail only if absolutely necessary on Saturday, passengers warned

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Passengers have been warned to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on Saturday, when a national strike means only one in five of normal scheduled services are due to run.

More than 40,000 members of the RMT union, including most Network Rail signallers and train crew and staff at 15 operating companies, will strike for 24 hours in the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. Hundreds of TSSA members at three train operators will also go on strike, while others will refuse to act as contingency staff.

Many areas of Britain will have no services at all, with remaining trains mostly operating only between 7.30am and 6.30pm. The first train services on Sunday will also start later due to the knock-on effects of the strike.

The strike is the last nationwide walkout to be scheduled by the RMT or Aslef, the train drivers’ union, after combined action last Saturday and an Aslef strike on Wednesday that stopped services on the first and last days of the Conservative party conference.

The action comes amid some glimmers of hope that the dispute could be resolved under the new transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who has met briefly with union leaders.

The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, appealed to Trevelyan to “unshackle the railway companies” in a letter ahead of the union’s eighth day of strike action this year.

Lynch acknowledged comments made by the transport secretary at the party conference saying that there was a “deal to be done”.

He said: “I am also hopeful that a negotiated settlement between the RMT and the employers can be reached. However, for this to be achieved, your government must unshackle the train operators who currently take their mandate directly from yourself.”

Lynch said that train operators were being paid at taxpayers’ expense during the strike, and had “essentially no imperative to reach a meaningful settlement”.

He added: “We estimate that the cost of this policy to the taxpayer is now in the region of ?170m. Rather than using taxpayers’ money to cover the cost of this dispute, it would be far better if you were to unshackle the train operators and give them the remit to negotiate a settlement with the RMT that meets our members’ aspirations around job security, pay and working conditions.”

Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, said the industry had made “best efforts to compromise and find a breakthrough in talks”, but unions were intent on disruptive action. He said: “We’re asking passengers who want to travel this Saturday to only do so if absolutely necessary.

“Those who must travel should expect disruption and make sure they check when their last train will depart.”

Passengers are advised to check the National Rail enquiries or train operators’ websites for updates.