There may also be disruption to services on Sunday 8 January as striking workers return to their duties.strike days, about half of the network will shut down and only about 20% of normal services will run. Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual, with services typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm on the days of the strikes.
The train drivers’ strike on Thursday will affect 15 operators and will result in even fewer services running, with some companies operating “very significantly reduced” timetables.in place at 14 train operating companies until Monday that will continue to affect the level of cancellations and the punctuality of some services.
Daniel Mann, the director of industry operations at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “No one wants to see these strikes go ahead and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this unnecessary and damaging disruption. “This dispute will only be resolved by agreeing the long overdue reforms to working arrangements needed to put the industry on a sustainable footing, rather than unions condemning their members to losing more pay in the new year.”He said: “We don’t want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place. They have not offered our members a penny, and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019.
“The train companies say their hands have been tied by the government, while the government – which does not employ us – says it’s up to the companies to negotiate with us. We are always happy to negotiate – we never refuse to sit down at the table and talk – but these companies have offered us nothing, and that is unacceptable.