Are trains running today? Which lines are affected by Tuesday’s strike action

Train drivers will continue their latest round of strike action today, in their long-running dispute with rail companies over pay.

The six-day walkout, organised by the Aslef union, started on Saturday, and is targeting different operators on different days.

On Saturday drivers working for East Midlands Railway and LNER walked out, and on Sunday Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink and West Midlands Trains were affected.

Today’s action will be compounded by bad weather, with flooding causing significant disruption on several popular routes.

Which trains companies are affected by strikes today?

Tuesday will see drivers at c2c and Greater Anglia taking strike action.

National Rail said: “On the days where full strike action is taking place this is likely to result in little or no services across large areas of the network operated by the affected train companies.

“Services are also likely to be disrupted and start later on the day immediately following a full strike day. Passengers are warned to expect significant disruption and advised to plan ahead and check before you travel.”

You can check any planned journeys using National Rail’s journey planner here.

Here are the week’s remaining strike days:

• Wednesday 6 December – Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, SWR main line, SWR depot drivers, Island Line
• Thursday 7 December – CrossCountry, GWR
• Friday 8 December – Northern, TPT

Drivers will also refuse to work overtime from Friday 1 to Saturday 9 December.

How is the weather affecting trains?

CrossCountry Trains said heavy flooding was blocking lines between Edinburgh Waverley and Newcastle on Tuesday morning.

Rail users in the south-west of England have also been warned that flooding would affect services.

Great Western Railway said flooding had caused significant disruption on Monday and advised people not to travel between Bristol and Exeter, or any trip between London Paddington and Devon or Cornwall.

The company said: “We are expecting disruption between London Paddington and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall into Tuesday morning as floods subside.”

Passengers on long-distance services were advised to avoid travelling by train if possible in the morning.

Why are train drivers striking?

Aslef general secretary, Mick Whelan, criticised Transport Secretary Mark Harper, who made comments he labelled “disingenuous” while speaking at a select committee hearing in November.

Mr Harper told MPs at the transport committee: “There is, most people think, a perfectly fair and reasonable offer on the table and I genuinely don’t understand why Aslef won’t put it to their members.”

He was referring to an offer made in April that the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) says would take “average salaries for train drivers up from nearly £60,000 a year to almost £65,000 a year for, on average, a four-day week”.

Aslef has previously described this offer as “risible”.

Mr Whelan said: “What the minister apparently fails to understand is that we have received overwhelming mandates, on enormous turnouts, for more industrial action. Our members have spoken and we know what they think. It is a clear rejection of the offer that was made in April.”

Will there be more RMT strikes?

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have agreed to an offer from 14 train companies, which includes a backdated pay rise of five per cent for 2022-23, as well as job security guarantees.

The deal means RMT workers will not strike until at least next spring.

A breakthrough finally came when the union agreed to put a memorandum of understanding with the RDG to its members this month.

Mick Lynch, the RMT’s general secretary, said: “Our members have spoken in huge numbers to accept this offer and I want to congratulate them on their steadfastness in this long industrial campaign.

“We will be negotiating further with the train operators over reforms they want to see. And we will never shy away from vigorously defending our members terms and conditions, now or in the future.

“This campaign shows that sustained strike action and unity gets results and our members should be proud of the role they have played in securing this deal.”

While a pay deal has been agreed for 2022-23, strike action could resume next spring, as a deal is yet to be reached for the current financial year.