Advice for train passengers as rail strikes mean one train an hour from Cambridge to London

Travellers arriving at Cambridge train station were told there is just one train per hour departing for London today as a five-day period of strike action began just as workers return to work after the festive season.

Around half of Britain’s railway lines are closed and only a fifth of services are running as thousands of workers at Network Rail and train operators stage two 48-hour walkouts on Tuesday/Wednesday, and Friday/Saturday. Signalling staff are among 40,000 RMT members also on strike, which means that much of the railway in Wales, Scotland and less populous regions of England will not run at all this week, while service frequencies will typically be reduced to one train an hour on major routes.

Train drivers in the Aslef union, including the Greater Anglia network, will strike for 24 hours on Thursday.

Network Rail has advised people to travel only if absolutely necessary throughout the week and to check online for updates on when services will run.

There were no picket lines at Cambridge station this morning as the dispute over pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions continues. Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living as inflation remains at 10.7 per cent in the UK, and reject compulsory redundancies.

With rail industry is under pressure to save money after the pandemic left a hole in its finances, the management say reforms need to be on the table. Network Rail has proposed a 50 per cent cut to maintenance while Rail Delivery Group, the organisation that represents railway companies, has proposed driver-only trains and the closure of all ticket offices.

Transport secretary Mark Harper has said that “there is a very fair pay offer on the table which has been accepted by two of the trade unions on Network Rail”, while RMT general secretary Mick Lynch told the PA news agency from an RMT picket line outside London Euston station that “the government and the companies have not put any fresh proposals to us”, adding: “They know what needs to be done to move towards a settlement, how to work through the problems and get to some documentation that we can all support, but that’s not happened so far.

“We’re hoping in the next few days that they will come to us and propose more meetings and more sessions of negotiation but at the moment that’s simply not there.

“The government has let these strikes go ahead and that’s unfortunate.”

Meanwhile, Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, said the government-owned company wants to “work with the RMT now to make clarifications where there’s been misunderstanding” with the rejected offer, and put it to another vote.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We only need 2,000 people who voted no last time to change their vote and the deal will pass.

“So, we think that’s within touching distance.”

The public can expect a number of strikes about pay and working condition taking place this month.