Northampton train journeys disrupted and cancelled in rail strike

Northampton railway station was very quiet on Tuesday morning

Train travellers have had to "meticulously plan" their journeys after industrial action left services disrupted or cancelled.

Members of the RMT union have taken national strike action in a row over pay and conditions, with only a fifth of trains understood to be running.

At Northampton railway station, Charlie Billingham said he decided to work from home and not travel to London.

More strikes are planned for Thursday and Saturday.

Some shops shut at Northampton railway station due to a lack of passengers

Mr Billingham told the BBC he had hoped to travel into work via London Euston and expected his journey to take "a couple of hours".

He predicted his day would be "slightly more painful and more time spent on train and train stations".

However, he said he gave up trying to get a train and opted to work from home.

"The screen was completely turned off with the timetable so I had no idea what the trains were," he said.

Christopher Barclay said he was running about "three hours behind" on his journey from Northampton to London Euston - and it was impacting his day.

Strike supporters on the Northampton picket line on Tuesday

Andrew McGill, from London North Western Railways, which runs trains through Northampton to Birmingham and London said: "If people do have the option to work from home I would highly recommend they take it."

He added that services had been reduced and with more action planned, it would "impact the day in between".

From Northampton London North Western Railways was running two trains per hour into London Euston, when it is normally between three and four, with no trains after 18:30 BST.

There is just one train an hour running between Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby for East Midlands Railway.

There are also reduced services from Long Buckby, and at Kings Sutton, no service will operate north of Banbury or to Oxford.

A sign at Northampton railway station showing that industrial action was taking place

Commuter Mike Derbyshire decided to stay in London from today "rather than come back".

"It's a bit of a pain as I always like to get home but you do what you need to do," he said.

Alex Davies, who was hoping to get from Northampton to Stafford, said a lack of information for his onward journey left him worried he would be "stranded" with "no clue if I can get home".

John Coe said he had to organise his journey to ensure he could get from Northampton to London Euston, then to Paddington, and onto Cardiff.

"We looked at the network and the trains affected and planned around that," he said.

"If all things go well we should get there and back."