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Train drivers at nine rail companies will strike on 13 August, the Aslef union has announced, as passengers faced further disruption today due to industrial action.
Only around one in five trains ran on Wednesday, on about half the network, with some areas having no trains all day.
Picket lines were mounted outside stations as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 14 train operators went on strike.
Motorway speed average drops as low as 14mph – rail strikes live
The lack of rail services caused more people to head out on to the motorways – with average speeds on the M1 dropping as low as 14mph, according to traffic site Waze.
Trains will also be disrupted on Thursday morning with a later start to services as employees return to duties.
Thousands of drivers at nine rail companies are to stage a one-day strike on Saturday 13 August in the worsening pay dispute.
A separate walkout by drivers at seven rail operators is already planned for this Saturday.
Both strikes will affect Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains.
Staff at Avanti West Coast and Cross Country will not take part on Saturday but have now decided to take industrial action in August.
Read more:
What you need to know as rail strikes continue
Aslef said train companies had failed to make a pay offer that would keep pace with rising living costs.
The union said workers have not had a pay rise since 2019, which amounts to a real terms cut over the last three years when soaring inflation – set to hit 11% this autumn – is taken into account.
“We want an increase in line with the cost of living – we want to be able to buy, in 2022, what we could buy in 2021,”…
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Source : skynews
