Explainer
How is each train operator affected by the latest rail strikes?
UK train operators have revealed how their services will be altered in response to rail strikes this week.
Services will be decimated with half of all lines closed during the industrial action tomorrow and Wednesday, which will affect Network Rail and 14 major operators.
Trains will only operate between 7.30am and 6.30pm, with travellers warned to only go by rail if absolutely necessary.
More 48-hour walkouts are due to be carried out on December 16 and 17, January 3 and 4, and January 6 and 7.
More than 40,000 RMT rail workers will walk out for 48 hours over a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, which has been exacerbated by soaring inflation outstripping wages.
Hopes of a major breakthrough in the dispute were shattered today after Network Rail workers rejected a pay offer from their employer.
Network Rail, which owns and maintains the railways, had offered a 5% pay rise this year, followed by a 4% rise next year.
The RMT rejected the offer, which it says is linked to thousands of job losses, a 50% cut in scheduled maintenance tasks and a 30% increase in unsocial hours.
After attempts to prevent the strikes fell short, here is a breakdown of each operator's plans for those days:
Avanti West Coast
There will be one train per hour in both directions between London Euston and each of Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.
A limited service will operate to Glasgow.
Several areas will not be served, such as Blackpool, Edinburgh, North Wales and Shrewsbury.
c2c
On Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be two trains per hour in each direction between London Fenchurch Street and Pitsea via Rainham, and Shoeburyness via Laindon.
No trains will run to or from Ockendon or Chafford Hundred.
Caledonian Sleeper
All departures on Tuesday and Wednesday night are cancelled.
Chiltern Railways
No trains will run north of Banbury or to/from Oxford station.
There will be one train per hour in both directions between London Marylebone and each of Aylesbury via High Wycombe; Banbury; and Oxford Parkway.
The same frequency will be in place between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Amersham.
CrossCountry
A very limited service is planned.
No direct services will run to and from Birmingham New Street and these locations: Penzance via Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth; Cardiff Central; Stansted Airport via Peterborough and Cambridge; and Nottingham.
East Midlands Railway
Just one train per hour will run in each direction between London St Pancras and each of Corby, Nottingham and Sheffield.
There will be the same frequency there will be one train per hour between Derby and both Matlock and Nottingham; between Sheffield and Nottingham; and between Leicester and Nottingham.
All other routes will be closed.
Gatwick Express
Services will be suspended. Passengers travelling to or from Gatwick Airport can use Southern and Thameslink trains.
Grand Central
Just three trains in each direction will run between London King’s Cross and Northallerton, and two between London King’s Cross and Wakefield Kirkgate.
Great Northern
There will be very few trains, with no services east of Ely to King’s Lynn.
Great Western Railway
Only a very limited service will run, such as between London Paddington and Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford and Plymouth.
Greater Anglia
On strike days, the company will not run any trains on its regional and branch lines.
Only a very limited service will operate on some routes to and from London Liverpool Street.
Heathrow Express
A full service will operate, but only between 7.30am and 6.17pm.
Hull Trains
Only four trains will run between Doncaster and London King’s Cross.
London North Eastern Railway
A limited timetable will be in operation, with the London King’s Cross-Edinburgh route having just eight trains in each direction.
London Northwestern Railway
A limited service will connect Birmingham New Street with Crewe, London Euston and Wolverhampton.
Other routes will be closed.
Lumo
A reduced timetable will be in place with just two trains each way between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh.
Merseyrail
A limited service will operate.
No trains will run between Chester and Rock Ferry, Ellesmere Port and Rock Ferry, or Liverpool Central and Hunts Cross.
Northern
Passengers are urged “do not travel” as only a small number of routes will have trains.
Routes that will be open include Liverpool to Manchester; York to Leeds; and Leeds to Sheffield.
ScotRail
Trains will only run across the Central Belt, Fife and the Borders.
South Western Railway
A “severely limited service” will run, and only between London Waterloo and Basingstoke, Southampton, Windsor and Woking.
Southeastern
The vast majority of the network in Kent and East Sussex will be closed.
Only 44 out of 180 stations will be open.
The high-speed route to Ashford International will be open.
Southern
Much of the network will be shut down.
Services which will run include those on the Brighton Mainline to London Bridge and London Victoria.
Stansted Express
Two trains per hour will run between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.
Thameslink
There will be far fewer trains than normal.
Services will be split north and south, with nothing running between London St Pancras and London Bridge.
TransPennine Express
Only a reduced timetable will operate on these routes: Between York and Manchester Piccadilly; between Cleethorpes and Sheffield; and between Preston and Manchester Airport.
–Transport for Wales
Most lines will be closed.
An hourly service will run between Cardiff and Newport, with limited trains elsewhere.
West Midlands Railway
A limited service will operate only between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street.
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