"We've literally got nowhere else to go," Eddie Dempsey from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers told the BBC.

"We haven't rushed into this, bearing in mind we've been seeking a settlement for two years now in our industry.

"We're not aiming to inflict massive disruption on ordinary people going about their lives."

Image source, Jacob King/PA Wire

Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss yesterday told the BBC it was "completely irresponsible" for rail workers to go on strike again.

She dismissed reasons given by the RMT union - which has issues with job cuts, conditions and pay - saying staff were "well-rewarded for the work they do".

Truss said she would ensure that "essential services" are forced to run at all times, claiming it is "wrong that the travelling public is held ransom by militant unions".

Her rival Rishi Sunak is in agreement with Truss on the issue.

On Monday, he said the latest round of strikes would cause "hardship for millions of ordinary workers across the country".

Sunak, too, promised to curb disruptive industrial action in order to "make sure that unions cannot dictate how the British people go about their daily life".

Image source, PA Media

The government says the railway system needs modernisation and long-term financial sustainability, adding that £16bn of taxpayers' money was used to support the railways during the Covid pandemic.

Ahead of today's strike, a spokesperson for the Department for Transport hit out at the RMT, saying the union "has no interest in engaging in constructive discussions and is hell-bent on creating further misery for passengers across the UK".

They appealed for the RMT to "do the right thing" and call off the industrial action, as it "is a cynically timed attempt to derail the start of the Commonwealth Games" which will also affect people requiring urgent care, holidaymakers and businesses.

"The rail industry has to modernise and be brought into the 21st Century for the benefit of passengers and staff," they said.

"We're extremely disappointed to see that instead of staying at the table, RMT executives have chosen to walk away once more.”

Network Rail has offered the union an pay increase of 4% with a further increase for the following year.

The company says its modernisation plans will involve no more than 2,000 job losses - and that all redundancies can be voluntary.

It says it would not consider any changes that would make the railways less safe, but stresses modernisation is needed.

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said yesterday that despite “best efforts to find a breakthrough”, passengers were facing disruption today as the RMT “seems hell-bent on continuing their political campaigning, rather than compromising and agreeing a deal for their members”.

He apologised for the impact of the “pointless strike”, especially on people travelling for holidays or attending the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

Kevin Groves from Network Rail says most of their signallers - who control the movement of trains across the entire network - are striking today.

Only 400 of around 4,000 signallers are at work, he tells the BBC.

"They can only control and look after a skeleton service today, which is why we have so few trains running."

He adds train services will finish "a lot earlier than normal".

More than 40,000 RMT union workers at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies are walking out today, while TSSA members are also walking out at Avanti West Coast.

The industrial action is part of the ongoing row between unions and the government and rail companies over pay, job security and working conditions and follows the biggest rail strike in 30 years last month.

The RMT wants to see workers get pay increases given the rising cost of living, with another issue being plans by Network Rail to cut 2,500 maintenance jobs, as the company tries to save £2bn over the next two years. The union insists those jobs are safety-critical.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has said a “huge chasm” remains between workers and rail operators, adding that there has been no change or improvement in the pay offers it has received.

He has also accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of showing “a complete dereliction of duty” throughout the dispute, saying that rather than working constructively to help the parties reach an agreement, “he has interfered by not allowing the rail industry to a deal with RMT”.

Image source, PA Media

The biggest rail strikes in 30 years took place across three days on 21, 23 and 25 June, with people’s travel plans affected across England, Scotland and Wales.

Millions of passengers faced journeys hours longer than usual and surging road traffic after services were cut to 20%, half of all lines were closed and much of the country had no rail service at all.

There was also a knock-on impact on services in the days after the industrial action.

More than 40,000 members of the RMT at Network Rail and 13 train operators went on strike as part of the dispute, with strikes also taking place on London Underground lines on the first day.

Many stations that were normally crammed with commuters were almost deserted except for union picket lines, while those who made it into work by rail faced a dash for their last trains before the network shut down at 18:30 BST.

Many parts of the motorway network were also quieter than a normal day, as employees took advantage of post-pandemic work-from-home policies.

Today’s strike will affect services across England, Scotland and Wales, with around half of the rail network open.

Network Rail says there will be a“very limited service” running on lines that will only be open from around 07:30 to 18:30 BST.

Its staff maintain the railways across Britain meaning all train operators may be affected by the strike, whether they have an individual dispute with the RMT or not, as signallers control train movements across the entire country.

The companies affected by the RMT strikes are: Network Rail, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains, Heathrow Express, Lumo, Hull Trains, Grand Central, Transport for Wales, ScotRail, Merseyrail, Thameslink, London Northwestern Railway, Caledonian Sleeper, Stansted Express, and GTR (including Gatwick Express).

Transport for London says while the strikes do not involve its staff, varying degrees of disruption are expected on the District and Bakerloo Tube lines, London Overground, and the Elizabeth line, which all share some sections of track with Network Rail.

Image source, PA Media

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today’s industrial action by rail workers.

Some 40,000 workers at Network Rail and 14 train operators are walking out across Britain due to a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of the RMT union will take part in the one-day stoppage while TSSA members at Avanti West Coast will also be on strike.

Only around one in five trains will run, on around half the network, with some areas having no trains all day.

Passengers are being urged to only travel by train if they must, and if it is necessary, allow extra time and check when their last train will depart.

Trains are also expected to be disrupted on Thursday morning with a later start to services as employees return to duties.

Stay with us for updates throughout the day.