Rail services face severe disruption this week as thousands of workers take to the picket line as part of a fresh round of strike action.

Industrial action by the RMT union will take place on 3-4 and 6-7 January, while train drivers' union Aslef has called a strike on 5 January.

National Rail says , externalit is working hard to minimise the effect this will have on services but some services will be cancelled, limited or disrupted.

Here’s what you need to know if your journey has been affected:

• Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets for 3, 4, 6 and 7 January can be used the day before the date on the ticket, or up to and including Tuesday 10 January
• The same applies to passengers affected by the Aslef strike action on 5 January
• Passengers with tickets for long distance operators should request a refund and rebook onto an alternative service
• Seats cannot be guaranteed on trains running on days either side of the strike action. Passengers are advised to check with train operators before travelling

Image source, .

It's not just the railways that are being affected by strike action. Unions in various sectors are taking action as demands grow for pay increases to keep up with rising prices.

Also today, there will be possible road disruption as all National Highways traffic officers in England go on strike.

These are the crews that patrol motorways dealing with collisions and helping motorists who break down.

Some driving examiners are on strike in the East Midlands, West Midlands, east of England and parts of London.

The industrial action will not affect theory tests but might have an impact on practical exams.

• Who is striking and what are their pay claims?

Remember, it's not just the railwayspublished at 08:05 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2023

08:05 GMT 3 January 2023

Noor Nanji
Business reporter

It’s back to work for many - and back to strikes with more than 100 traffic officers and control room staff working for National Highways in England walking out.

Drivers have been warned that roads could be busy because of the industrial action taking place on the railways at the same time.

National Highways insists the walkouts would have “minimal overall impact”.

Elsewhere on the roads, some driving examiners at the DVSA are also on strike today in the Midlands, East of England and some parts of London.

Tomorrow, those in south-east and south-west England, Wales, and other parts of London are affected. The walkouts involve members of the PCS union, which represents workers employed by several government departments.

The union is taking action in a row over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms. The government said the union's demands were "unaffordable".

The RMT trade union should get off the picket line and back "round the negotiating table", Transport Secretary Mark Harper says.

Harper tells BBC Breakfast: "I made sure there was a new and improved offer that went to the trade unions, and indeed two of the trade unions on Network Rail have settled the dispute and accepted the offer.

"The RMT sadly decided to reject it and are continuing with strikes.

"I would much rather they got off the picket line and got back round the negotiating table to hammer out a deal on reform and pay with the employers."

The strikes are "damaging to the rail industry" and "damaging to the people that work on it", Harper adds.

Image source, PA Media

Let's hear from a key figure in the rail strike now: Tim Shoveller, the chief negotiator for Network Rail.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Shoveller suggests a new year signals the possibility of the strikes being resolved. But the only way to achieve this is through an agreement with unions, he tells the BBC.

He says Network Rail - which manages Britain's railway network - is confident it can get a resolution having already reached a settlement with members of the TSSA transport union before Christmas.

On the risk of workers losing their jobs, he says there is no truth in claims that rail companies would sack people who "make journeys safer".

"The truth is we need to make about 1,850 redundancies to reduce our costs – and we’ve already got over 3,000 volunteers to leave", Shoveller says, meaning there'll be "no compulsory redundancies until 2025".

Transport for Wales Rail has been in touch to say that while its staff are not on strike, the walkout by members of the RMT at Network Rail means services are badly affected.

Network Rail owns and operates the track, stations and signalling in Britain, so without a full roster of staff in the signalling centres only a limited number of trains can run.

In a statement, Transport for Wales said: "The industrial action resulting from the dispute between the unions and Network Rail means we’ll be unable to operate rail services on Network Rail infrastructure.

"The majority of rail services across the Wales and Borders network will be suspended on 3-4 and 6-7 January."

We're hearing now from RMT union leader Mick Lynch who is on BBC Breakfast.

Lynch says the union is sorry the strike action is "dragging on in this way" but that the government is "doing nothing" about the dispute.

Speaking from the picket line at London's Euston station, he says: "All the parties involved know what needs to be done to get a settlement, but the government is blocking that settlement and doing nothing about this dispute and that needs to change."

The government has "torpedoed" negotiations with rail companies, Lynch says.

"I've set out to them [the government] the sort of moves that we need to do. The companies know what's involved.

"But in effect, the government torpedoed talks to train operating company by putting conditions into the documentation that they know we can never accept," he adds.

Theo Leggett
Reporting from Euston station in central London

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch was out on a chilly picket line early this morning at Euston station.

Has there been any progress in resolving the dispute? No. Nothing has happened since a meeting on 15 December, he said.

Is the government calling the shots? Yes, he insisted. It has torpedoed efforts to find a resolution. Is he worried about losing public support? No sign of it, he said.

A new year, but the same old dispute - and judging by Lynch’s comments this morning, not much prospect of a resolution any time soon.

New year, same strikespublished at 07:15 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2023

07:15 GMT 3 January 2023

Marc Ashdown
Business correspondent

It's a new year, but there's no end in sight to this bitter dispute.

Train passengers returning to work after the festive period face delays, disruption and cancellations.

Just 20% of the UK’s rail network will operate today and tomorrow, and any services which do run will start later and finish by early evening.

Around 40,000 members of the RMT union in a range of jobs at 14 train operators, as well as Network Rail, have been involved in the dispute since June over pay, working conditions and job security. They will walk out for another 48 hours on Friday.

Meanwhile, a 24-hour train drivers' strike by members of the Aslef union on Thursday is expected to result in even fewer services running.

No further talks are planned so far. But the Department for Transport says the government is being reasonable and stands ready to facilitate an end to the rail disputes.

In the last few minutes, the editor of Rail magazine has been speaking to Radio 4's Today programme.

Asked for his assessment about who is standing in the way of a deal, Nigel Harris says it's more true that "both sides [unions and the government] are blocking reforms".

The government "can’t pretend this is an issue between [only] the unions and employers" when the UK effectively has a nationalised railway, he tells the BBC's Nick Robinson.

He says the UK government pays rail operators in the same way people pay their decorators or plumbers - "the government is the paymaster" Harris says, adding this in itself shows "there’s not the financial flexibility to solve this as there might be in the private sector".

Asked whether he sees a resolution soon, Harris says that unless there's movement on both sides, he fears "this is going to go on for some time yet".

The government has put out a statement saying unions should "step back" from strike action.

Ministers are ready to facilitate a resolution, according to a Department for Transport spokesman, and want unions to "come to the table".

The statement re-iterates the line that inflation-matching pay increases for all public sector workers would "worsen debt and fuel inflation" hitting every household in the country.

"Passengers have rightly had enough of rail strikes and want the disruption to end," the statement says.

Image source, EPA

The RMT union says that despite its best efforts over the festive period, rail employers have not arranged formal negotiations to try to resolve the dispute.

RMT chief Mick Lynch accused the government of "blocking" the union's attempts to reach a settlement with rail employers.

"We have worked with the rail industry to reach successful negotiated settlements ever since privatisation in 1993 and we have achieved deals across the network in 2021 and 2022 where the Department for Transport has no involvement.

"Yet in this dispute, there is an unprecedented level of ministerial interference, which is hamstringing rail employers from being able to negotiate a package of measures with us, so we can settle this dispute," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

The unions are in dispute with the government and rail companies about pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions.

Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living.

But the rail industry is under pressure to save money after the pandemic left a hole in its finances. Bosses say reforms need to be agreed, to afford pay increases and modernise the railway.

Network Rail is planning to cut 1,900 jobs as part of changes to the way its maintenance teams work - although it insists most of this could be achieved by people leaving voluntarily.

The RMT disagrees with some of the changes and wants a guarantee of no compulsory job losses.

Welcome to our live coverage as another series of rail strikes begins.

It's back to work for many today after the Christmas and new year holiday – and also the first day of strike action that will disrupt train services for most of this week.

Around 40,000 members of the RMT union on Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will take action today, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, shutting down most rail services across the country.

And a one-day strike on Thursday by drivers' union Aslef will cripple services.

Stay with us as we set out how the strikes will affect you.