Greater Anglia cancels 90% of trains on Saturday over strike

Greater Anglia said more than 90% of its services are not running on Saturday due to strike action

A strike by train drivers has caused disruption to services operated by Greater Anglia in the east of England.

Members of the ASLEF union are staging their second strike in two weeks; the latest 24-hour walk-out is again about a dispute over pay.

Passengers have been warned they would struggle to travel between stations in the region and London on Saturday.

Greater Anglia's Jonathan Denby said a minimal service was operating between Norwich and the capital.

Only six trains were running in each direction between Norwich and London with last trains ending earlier than normal at 21:30 BST.

Sunday services would start later in the morning than usual due to the 24-hour strike, and no regional or branch lines will be operating, the company said.

Striking ASLEF drivers at Ipswich train station said they wanted a better pay rise to counteract inflation

"The impact of a strike by train drivers is always going to be quite severe," said Mr Denby.

"Again we apologise for that. The advice is to avoid travelling if at all possible and to look for alternatives.

"Clearly we are looking to resolve the dispute as soon as possible."

Nigel Gibson from ASLEF said his members have not had a pay rise since April 2019.

"We believe working people deserve a pay rise to maintain the cost of living increase," he said.

"Our members who work for Greater Anglia currently are on between £38,000 and £52,000 - despite what the transport minister says in relation to average earnings for train drivers, which he says is £59,000."

Passengers are advised to avoid rail travel if possible

Mr Gibson said he expected other unions to carry out further strikes after a ballot result returns next month.

Greater Anglia services connect the counties of Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk with London.

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