Rail passengers are set for more travel chaos as only around 20% of normal train services will run today (Saturday October 8) because of strike action by union members. More than 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 15 train operating companies will walk out in a row over jobs, pay and conditions.
Around half of the network will be closed all day and trains will operate only between 7.30am and 6.30pm. Passengers are being urged to “only travel by train if absolutely necessary on Saturday”, while services will start later than normal tomorrow morning (October 9) as workers return to duties.
Ahead of the industrial action, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch wrote to Transport Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan, urging her to “unshackle” the railway companies and allow them to reach a settlement with the rail unions. Mr Lynch wrote: “I am writing following your comments at the Conservative Party Conference last weekend in which you said that there is a ‘deal to be done’ between the rail unions and train companies in relation to the ongoing industrial disputes.
