Train disruption continues despite cancelled strikes

Rosters for train drivers are normally put in place and agreed a week in advance

Most rail services continue to be disrupted on Monday despite a series of planned strikes being called off.

Walkouts over pay and conditions by union members - planned for 5,7 and 9 November - were cancelled but passengers are still being urged to check whether their trains are running.

The majority of train operators are running reduced services with only a few offering a normal timetable.

Some services on Wednesday could also be disrupted.

Operators were told the strikes would be called off on Friday, but they agree timetables for train drivers a week in advance.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the train companies, said that the short notice meant that "train driver availability will inevitably be very challenging and rely primarily on volunteers" on Monday.

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Of the 14 train companies that were due to be affected by the walkouts, only two - C2C and Greater Anglia - will run a normal service.

Great Western Railway (GWR) had said it was working hard to reinstate services but improvements to Monday's timetable were "unlikely" given "the late notice".

More information about Wednesday would be released shortly, it added.

Meanwhile, West Midlands Railway said a reduced service would be in operation on Monday while work was ongoing to establish the "level of service" it could run on Wednesday.

South Eastern Railway's services will start later and finish earlier than usual on Monday and there will be no service on the Medway Valley or Sheerness lines.

South Western Railway said it had been too late to reinstate a full service on Monday and its trains are expected to run only between 07:00 GMT and 19:00 GMT.

However, it confirmed that full services would run on Wednesday and Thursday.

Train companies are advising customers to check services before they travel, and make additional checks on the day.

Negotiations

The RMT union said on Friday it had called off the strikes after "the promise of an offer" on pay from the rail operating companies, and said it would enter "intensive negotiations" with the firms and Network Rail.

Steve Montgomery, chair of the Rail Delivery Group, said on Thursday that the train companies were "working up to" making an offer to the trade unions.

However, rail employers and the government also said their position had not changed.

The suspension of the strikes is significant, as it is the first time in the RMT's long-running dispute that a strike has been called off to make further talks easier.

New rail minister Huw Merriman said on Thursday that the government wanted to "work positively and constructively" to find a solution to the ongoing rail disputes.