British rail passengers face travel disruption on Saturday because of a strike by thousands of workers in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
The walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will disrupt services, with no services in some parts of the country all day.
Services are also being disrupted because of a ban on overtime by train drivers in the Aslef union.
The deadlocked dispute is complicated by plans to close most railway ticket offices.
Passenger groups have joined unions in condemning the move, saying it will have a serious impact on elderly and disabled travellers.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said staff will be moved from behind screens to station concourses, but unions believe more than 2,000 jobs will be cut.
The RDG, which represents rail companies, said that since the first RMT strike in June 2022, industrial action had cost the sector about £620 million.
The strikes have “stalled its post-pandemic recovery and threatens its long-term sustainability”, the RDG said, adding that revenue levels are still 30 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
“The strikes have hit the wider economy – particularly sectors still recovering from the impact of the pandemic which employ hundreds of thousands of people,” it said.
“Analysis by Hospitality UK shows that with the upcoming rail strikes set to cost hospitality £132 million in sales, the cumulative impact of the rail strikes is £3.25 billion.”
The RMT held a strike on Thursday and will stage another walkout on July 29.
The strike at 14 train companies on Saturday is expected to mean variations in services across the country with trains starting later and finishing much earlier than usual.
In some areas, about half of train services are expected to run while others will have no services at all.
An RDG representative said that there will be reduced services between July 17 and July 29 and urged passengers to check their journey before departure.
Picket lines will be mounted outside railway stations across England and workers say they are receiving strong support for their action from the public.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said striking rail workers were still waiting for an invitation back to the negotiating table.
“We’ve been on strike for over a year, this campaign’s probably been running for two years.
“The issues are the same. They’re attacking our jobs. They’re making redundancies. They’re closing services.”
A Department for Transport representative said: “The government has met the rail unions, listened to them and facilitated improved offers on pay and reform. The union leaders should put these fair and reasonable offers to their members so this dispute can be resolved.”
