Train services across Britain will be severely disrupted for another two days as the last of the currently scheduled strikes starts on Friday morning.
Only about 20% of trains will run during the 48-hour stoppage by thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union at Network Rail and train operators.
Passengers have been advised to attempt to travel by train only if absolutely necessary, with services running only between the hours of 7.30am and 6.30pm on main intercity and urban lines.
With critical signalling workers on strike, large parts of rural England, Scotland and Wales will have no trains running throughout the next two days.
The strike follows a 24-hour stoppage by train drivers in the Aslef union that left major stations including Birmingham New Street and London Victoria with no passenger trains at all.
Most train services should return to normal by lunchtime on Sunday, after four weeks of disruption resulting from industrial action, including an RMT overtime ban at train operators over the festive period.
Network Rail has estimated the cumulative cost of rail strikes since the dispute started last year had now passed ?400m in lost ticket revenue.
The leaders of both unions, along with rail industry bosses, will meet the rail minister, Huw Merriman, on Monday, after the Department for Transport promised to help “facilitate” an agreement in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
However, the government has meanwhile heightened tensions by pledging to legislate for even more restrictive strike laws, including the introduction of minimum service levels during rail strikes.
RMT and Aslef members recently voted to extend the mandate for industrial action for a further six months.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, said on Thursday that it was “inevitable” that further strikes would be held unless the deadlock was broken.
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