Train strikes heavily affect services – as government accused of preventing settlement

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Train passengers are facing more disruption on Saturday as workers strike once again over pay, jobs and conditions.

Thousands of staff from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out and travellers have been told to check the latest information before travelling.

Wide variations in service are predicted around the country, with some trains set to start later or finish earlier than normal.

Some areas will have no service, others will run at about half the normal timetable. The disruption could also spill over into Sunday morning.

Read more: A full list of July and August dates and services affected by industrial action

Staff from 14 rail firms are taking part and it follows two days of similar action earlier this month.

Picket lines will be set up at stations as staff walkout and RMT boss Mick Lynch said the long-running strike action still had strong backing from the public.

More on Rail Strikes

“The issues are the same. They’re attacking our jobs. They’re making redundancies. They’re closing services,” said Mr Lynch.

“We haven’t had a pay rise for four years and the people that remain, they want to cut our conditions and issue new contracts of employment.

“There is not an agreement in sight at the moment but we remain available for negotiation with the companies and with the government – but that’s up to them to invite us back to the table so that we can work up some solutions to the dispute.”

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The Department for Transport said it had listened to unions and made offers on pay and reforms.

“The union leaders should put these fair and reasonable offers to their members so this dispute can be resolved,” said a spokesperson.

Train drivers from the Aslef union are also due to stop overtime next month in their own pay dispute – raising the likelihood of further travel problems.

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