The strikes are forcing many passengers to either risk the railways or find an alternative route.

Newlyweds Gary and Nicky Chapple were on their way home from a dream honeymoon in the Maldives when they heard the news about the strike.

The couple checked with Transpennine Express on Twitter and were told both their trains from Manchester Airport to Hull had been cancelled.

They were advised to try Northern Services, but were worried they’d have another cancellation.

So Nicky’s dad came to the rescue, picking them up from Manchester Airport and driving more than 100 miles back to Hull.

“I really don’t think we would be home now. We were lucky that we had someone in a position to collect us,” says Gary.

After two flights and a long drive, they finally arrived home at 11.30 BST – to a houseful of builders…

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson believes pay increases in line with inflation are "not feasible across the board at the moment", the prime minister's official spokesman says.

His spokesman says the government has to "work within our means" and "we don't want to feed into inflationary pressures".

He adds that "the consensus is that providing pay rises that chase inflation only adds to the problem and it is that act which is what would take most money away from the public in the long term."

The spokesman was asked what the prime minister believes would be a fair increase for workers - would it lie between the 3% being offered to rail workers and 11%, the projected rate of inflation.

He says that was a matter for pay review bodies which will report back in the coming weeks. He says Johnson believes "the settlement at the spending review was a relatively generous one".

The spokesman also defended keeping the triple lock on pensions, saying: "The chancellor needs to consider it all in the round and the view is that we can meet that commitment without stoking those inflationary pressures."

Image source, Getty Images

The effect of the strikes is being seen in city centres today with footfall considerably lower than an average Tuesday.

The option to work from home means many have stayed away from cities and avoided a tricky commute.

Footfall in central London was 27% lower than last Tuesday as of 13:00 BST, according to retail tracker Springboard.

In city centres outside the capital, it was 11% lower.

The reduced number of people in city centres is likely to have a knock on effect on businesses, with hospitality one of the worst hit.

Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, has warned the industrial action could cost the sector up to £540m.

"Fragile consumer confidence will take a further hit, thousands of people able and willing to spend money in hospitality venues across the country will be prevented from doing so, while staff will undoubtedly struggle to even get to work," she said.

Image source, Reuters

It's not only rail workers: walkouts are expected across other industries in what unions have warned could prove a "summer of discontent".

• As we've reported this afternoon, postal workers with Royal Mail are to be balloted for industrial action in a row over pay
• Barristers have voted to go on strike for several days starting next Monday, after a row about legal aid funding - and amid significant backlogs across the court system
• Two key teachers' unions are considering balloting members about possible strike action if the government does not meet their demands, including over pay
• And unions representing NHS workers are also reported to be discussing their own possible action over pay

The wave of industrial action has been compared to the "winter of discontent" in 1978-79.

Image source, Getty Images

Following this week's rail action, strikes are expected in a handful of industries amid concerns over the rising cost of living - and we've just heard that postal workers could be next.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), including more than 115,000 Royal Mail workers, will vote in the coming weeks on whether to mount a campaign of industrial action in a row over pay.

Ballot papers will go out on 28 June and the result will be known next month.

CWU deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger says the move comes after the Royal Mail Group imposed an "inadequate" 2% pay award on staff. It's "miles away from where inflation is," he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

A former Conservative Chancellor has warned there could be "price spirals" if this week's strikes are successful.

Lord Ken Clarke, chancellor in the 1990s in John Major's government, believes a positive outcome for striking workers risks a “return to the old wages, prices spiral” of the 1970s and 80s.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, he warned that Britain was “in the worst economic crisis" he remembered in his lifetime.

The rail strikes "cannot be allowed to look successful" and the government must focus on tackling the country’s “appalling performance in productivity”, he said

He also warned ministers can become "very unpopular" as the dispute goes on, as public anger shifts away from the unions, towards the government.

"They get angry with the government for not stepping, in getting out the tea and biscuits, getting them in and paying them, whatever it takes to get things going again.”

Andy Watson
BBC Radio Newcastle, Reporting from Sunderland

Communters in Sunderland have faced serious disruption due to the rail strikes.

The Tyne and Wear Metro has been suspended between Pelaw and South Hylton as the line is controlled by Network Rail. Kathrine Shortland, 30, who lives in the city centre but works in Gateshead, said: “I usually get the train through so I got up at 05:30 this morning which gave me time to get ready then get the bus.

"It’ll take me one hour longer to get there and I’ll be late getting home.

“It’s been a larger inconvenience than I thought it would be.”

Daniel Parkinson, 29, who lives in Sunderland but works in Newcastle, said: “Because they’re striking over a few days it’s going to affect me getting to Newcastle Racecourse this Saturday as well, sometimes I whinge when the trains are late but you realise how much trouble it causes when they’re off altogether.”

Image source, Getty Images

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has been urged from various angles to find a solution to the rail strikes and Scotland's Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth has now written to the UK government, urging them to do more to enable a settlement of the dispute.

ScotRail has said it will have to cancel 90% of its trains during the three days of strike action by the RMT union this week.

The operator, which was nationalised by the Scottish government in April, will run a very limited service on five routes in the central belt, with no trains anywhere else on any of the three strike days.

This dispute does not involve ScotRail workers, but it relies on Network Rail staff to operate signals and maintain the track across the country.

A separate dispute between ScotRail and its train drivers was resolved after Aslef, the union representing drivers, agreed a 5% pay deal.

In the letter to Shapps, Gilruth calls for the UK government to do more to resolve the dispute, which will significantly affect operations in Scotland, despite the Scottish government having no say in the negotiations.

You can read the letter in full here., external

Alice Bhandhukravi
Reporting from Liverpool Street, in the City of London

This is the fourth major strike this year which has caused severe disruption to the London Underground network.

I've spent some time outside Liverpool Street station, usually one of London's busiest, and have spoken to some of the RMT union members who are on the picket line.

They explained they will strike for as long as they need to.

One woman told me she is doing this so that one day she doesn't find out she has been made redundant just like P&O workers.

Earlier this year P&O Ferries sparked outrage after sacking 800 staff in a video call.

The strikes are forcing many passengers to either risk the railways or find an alternative route.

Gavin Greaves couldn't wait to tell his mum Joan he'd booked their first holiday together in six years.

"My mum is a cancer survivor and because of the pandemic she couldn’t leave her home to go anywhere," he says.

"I live in Edinburgh and I planned to get a train to Preston on Friday to pick up a hire car and then go to Poulton, Lancashire, to pick up my mum and then drive on to Wales to stay in a cottage for a week."

The strikes threatened to cancel their trip - and leave Gavin £800 short.

But after re-booking for Monday and getting a full refund, mother and son will soon be enjoying some quality time together.

Phil Mackie
Reporting from the West Midlands

At the National Traffic Operations Centre for National Highways on the outskirts of Birmingham, the bank of screens has been showing motorways across England marginally quieter than a normal Tuesday.

There was a busier peak at about 09:00 BST, when there were reports of congestion around city centre car parks, but since then the situation has become quieter than it would usually be.

The main screens here show junctions on the M60 near Manchester, the M6 past Birmingham and the M4 at Bristol and all have been free-flowing.

Frank Bird, senior network planner, tells me that in the post-pandemic world people have come up with a much better Plan B when they can’t get into work, and for many that means working from home rather than driving.

Fabio Manara, owner of coffee shop Fabio’s in Debden station in Essex, says the strikes have caused him to lose 80% of his business for today.

Fabio's is open six days a week and he expects to lose £300 per day due to the strikes.

“I opened two months before the pandemic and got help back then but there’s been so many strikes since then it makes it very hard,” he tells the BBC.

He employs four staff and one who is on a zero hours contract will not be able to be paid for today.

Fabio says he plans to ask his landlord TFL for a discount on the rent for the month.

“I understand why they are striking but I wish they would keep the station open and have the people travel for free, which would hurt the railway companies more," he says.

James Cheyne
Reporting from Glasgow Central Station

Various stranded travellers have drifted across Glasgow's Central Station to share their stories with us.

Retired NHS worker Christopher Britton has just finished a tour of Scotland's islands and is trying to get back to London.

He says he was quoted £1,500 for a taxi this morning.

He laughed when I asked if he'd considered it.

Another couple from Canada are suffering the double difficulty of being stuck on their holidays and confused by the sometimes complex routes and ticketing options on offer.

But there is still more bemusement and annoyance among potential passengers here than outright anger.

Jim Reed
Health reporter, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Senior medics have said the NHS “remains open” as the health service tries to deal with the disruption caused by this week's rail strikes.

Industrial action could have the largest impact on major inner city hospitals, many of which have specialist departments treating patients from the wider region who arrive by train.

King’s College Hospital in south London, home to the largest paediatric and adult liver unit in the country, said its planned treatment would continue this week. NHS London said it was not aware of any widespread cancellation of services in the city.

Some patients, however, have had to make alternative arrangements to attend appointments.

Graham Benton told the BBC he had been due to catch a train from Portsmouth to London for a heart operation, but because of the strikes he will now have to pay £165 for a taxi to get there.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director said: “The NHS sees millions of people every week for urgent and routine care and it is vital that people access the care they need despite disruptions - the NHS remains open, so please do continue to come forward.”

We've been reporting on the various industries and people affected by the strike, including those in need of hospital treatment.

During a BBC Radio 5Live phone-in with John Leach, the assistant general secretary of RMT, one pensioner voiced his anger after his hospital treatment for today was pushed back to August.

“As [someone who’s] in a bit of pain and discomfort, I actually have to say that I'm extremely upset," Stuart, from Harwell, Oxfordshire, said.

"I think the RMT, bless their cotton socks… we're all coming out of a terrible economic time with Covid and everything else and I don't think the RMT frankly are the prima donna trying to say we are special to everybody else.”

Responding, Leach said the union regretted the "inconvenience" and industrial action was a "last port of call for us", but implored Stuart and others to see the "wider story". He said:

Stuart cut in and told Leach the RMT was failing to "represent pensioners who are unwell”.

But after some back-and-forth, in which Leach said the recent P&O scandal was a "similar scenario" to what's happening on the railway, Stuart couldn't be moved. "I’m sorry, I can’t get sympathetic to your cause," he said, adding he'd have to bulk-buy paracetamol before his delayed treatment.

"Perhaps the RMT might buy some for me too," he said, ending with a laugh.

Image source, Getty Images

Traffic has been heavier than usual across Britain today as people swap trains for cars.

With 80% of trains cancelled, and some not operating at all in certain areas, there has been a spike in congestion and surging demand for taxis.

According to the AA, there are "traffic hotspots" on the M25 in the South East, and on roads near London, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.

Location technology firm TomTom said congestion levels at 11:00 BST were higher than at the same time last week in several urban areas.

Comparing 14 June with today, London saw the biggest jump (from 38 to 51%), followed by Manchester (27 to 34%), Liverpool (24 to 30%), Cardiff (24 to 29%) and Newcastle (18 to 20%).

Unsurprisingly, there has been an increased demand for taxis, with some travellers criticising the higher fares as "disgraceful".

As for long-distance coach services, National Express said it has seen a surge in bookings and inquiries with 65% of seats already sold across its network.

Image source, Reuters

Picket lines have been set up at stations across the country as the biggest rail strike in decades disrupts the travel plans of millions.

Union bosses have blamed the government for cuts and below-inflation wage proposals while ministers say the railways need reform and large pay increases could send soaring inflation out of control.

We've been hearing from workers themselves about why they are on strike.

London Bridge station supervisor and local union organiser Jane Gwynn says she and her colleagues are striking because their pensions, working conditions and pay are being sacrificed due to the economic effects of the pandemic.

Another striking RMT rail worker says he is costing his family money by going on strike and losing wages.

Speaking from the picket line at Orpington station in south-east London, the man, who wished to remain anonymous, tells us: "We don't want to inconvenience anyone. I apologise sincerely, but if I don't believe and stand up for what the union is for, what's the point in being in the union?"

He adds: "Enough is enough now. Everyone in every position needs to stand up to this government for what you believe in and get what's owed to you."

Elsewhere, Robert, an RMT member on strike in Milton Keynes, tells BBC 5 Live that he worked "longer and harder" throughout the pandemic as an essential worker.

He says being on furlough wasn't an option for workers like him as the railway infrastructure had to be maintained by staff despite a reduced number of trains operating as people stayed home.

Helen Hoddinott
Reporting from Pentonville

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier we mentioned a huge spike in the number of Londoners using the cycle hire scheme across the capital - previously they were dubbed "Boris bikes".

I am just off Pentonville Road at a Santander Cycle hub and I can see 21 stations where bikes can be docked and only four bikes are available.

When I first get here a man called Adam is trying to use the touchscreen to try to hire out a bike, having never used one before.

A woman named Eugenie, who uses them regularly but couldn't get one at her usual hub, has been helping him undock one, which is nice to see.

It has made their day negative, dealing with the traffic, and Adam tells me he is not used to cycling in London and is feeling a bit nervous without a helmet.

It is very anxiety inducing, seeing people who feel they have no other choice but to use one, and many of those people probably aren't used to cycling on London's streets.

Image source, PA Media

Healthcare support worker David Raposo Buzon was waiting at a bus stop in north London from 06:30 BST to try to make it in for his 07:30 start. But long queues and packed services meant he was 90 minutes late.

He said: "I feel ok with people doing strikes, but at the same time I feel angry when I think that NHS workers are not able to strike even if our conditions at work are really bad," the 34-year-old, originally from Spain, said.

"We aren't able to strike because we need to provide a minimum service but the service is already under minimum right now and, on top of that, if you strike, people literally die, so you feel guilty and, at the end, don't do it."

David shared footage of long queues waiting for a bus on his commute on Twitter.

Our colleagues at Radio 5 Live have been hearing from people affected by the rail strikes.

Image source, Kayode

University student Kayode is supposed to be travelling from Dundee to London after his graduation this week.

“The day I need to leave, there are no trains running,” he says.

Despite the strikes affecting his plans, Kayode still supports the industrial action, saying “there’s a rumbling of dissatisfaction around the country”.

Jo in Norfolk is a staunch supporter of the strikes and asks why the “responsibility for this [strike] is on the workers and not the employers who aren’t willing to budge”.

“What those hard-working cleaners on the trains and ticket inspectors are doing are making a stand for all of us,” she says.

“These are key workers, everybody hailed them during the pandemic. Now they’re having to stand alone without support.”

Steve in Carlisle thinks some union members are “using their power to cripple the country". "It’s called holding the country to ransom,” he says.