Severe rail disruption across UK as train drivers strike over pay

theguardian.com:

Rail passengers will face huge disruption or be unable to travel today as train drivers at nine operating companies stage a 24-hour strike, halting services in many parts of England, Scotland and Wales.

Thousands of members of the Aslef union are on strike in the latest industrial action in a deadlocked dispute over pay and “modernisation” on the railway.

The strike has stopped most intercity trains between London and the Midlands, northern England and Scotland, and into south Wales. Parts of the UK, including the West Midlands, south-west England and Kent, will have no trains running today.

Train operators have warned passengers to avoid travel on affected routes. Those who attempt to travel should be prepared for very busy trains and possible last-minute cancellations, with the effects expected to persist into the first half of Sunday.

Drivers will strike at Arriva Rail London, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, London North Eastern Railway (LNER), West Midlands Trains and Southeastern.

The strike means no trains will run at all on Saturday on London Overground, CrossCountry, Southeastern, West Midlands Trains, London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast.

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Very limited services will run on Hull Trains, Great Western Railway, LNER and Greater Anglia’s network, including the Stansted Express airport service.

The rail industry has appealed to unions to continue talks. Steve Montgomery, the chair of the Rail Delivery Group, said that without passenger numbers having recovered to pre-pandemic levels, “securing a bright future means we have to