Train strike latest LIVE: Major rail walkout begins as snow and ice continues to cause travel chaos

Commuters are facing widespread rail disruption after a series of walkouts began on Tuesday morning.

Around 40,000 rail workers will strike across Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in a long-running row over jobs, pay and conditions.

Most train companies in Britain are affected by the strike, with passengers warned to “only travel if absolutely necessary”. Icy-cold conditions has also exacerbated the travel chaos.

Travellers were left staring at blank departure and arrival screens at central London stations as services were cancelled.

At Victoria station the suspension of Gatwick Express services left hundreds of tourists and workers returning home for Christmas scrambling for alternative transport to catch their flights.

Among them was restaurant worker Giuseppe Bianchi, 26, who was travelling back to Rome to spend the festive season with his family.

He said: “I came to the station hours before my flight and I'm faced with the possibility of not making it ... I think the strikers are being selfish. It's Christmas why can't they declare peace with the government for this period.”

There are likely to be no services early in the morning or late at night on Tuesday as a result of the walkout, with only one in five services operating between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Most TfL services will continue to run, but there will be some disruption or suspensions on routes where the track is operated by Network Rail.

The RMT union has called the walkout in a demand for better conditions and pay rises to match the pace of inflation but the Government has refused inflation-linked pay offers.

What services are affected by train strikes?

11:44 , Josh Salisbury

The strike has brought Britain’s railway services to a standstill.

Half of all lines are closed and trains are only operating between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

TfL services are largely still running as normal, however, there is disruption on parts of the District and Bakerloo, and the London Overground and Elizabeth line.

This is because they use sections of Network Rail track for their routes.

The Bakerloo is part suspended from Harrow & Wealdstone to Queens Park, while there are some delays on the Elizabeth line. There is no service between Romford to Upminster on the London Overground due to the strike.

A breakdown of how each train company, including those which serve routes to-and-from London, is affected by the strikes can be found here.

Live coverage ends

12:29 , Josh Salisbury

Thank you for joining our live coverage of Tuesday’s rail strike.

For an overview of the developments throughout the day, please read our main story here.

No10: Giving in to pay demands would risk ‘embedding inflation'

12:19 , Josh Salisbury

Downing Street said inflation was the "real enemy" that needed to be addressed over strikes.

Asked who No 10 believed was to blame for the industrial disputes, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Certainly we recognise that the challenging circumstances in which we find ourselves with inflation are making it difficult for a number of people from public and private sector.

"We know the causes of that are largely driven by the pandemic and war in Ukraine, that's why we're seeing very similar levels of inflation across the Eurozone.

"And the Government has to act responsibly in its approach and we are firmly of the view that whilst we recognise... the public sector unions are seeking more pay for their members, we think the right approach is to have an independent body, look at all the factors and come up with recommendations."

He added that "a responsible government" had to be "mindful about the damage that embedding inflation would have, in the long term - that is the real enemy".

Rail union announces fresh strike in latest Christmas travel blow

11:50 , Josh Salisbury

Another rail union, the TSSA, has announced a fresh strike over pay and conditions.

Members of the union will strike at CrossCountry on Boxing Day and December 27.

The union said it believes the walkouts will severely affect services at CrossCountry, which covers large swathes of the country, from Penzance in Cornwall, to the Midlands, Wales, and northern England through to Scottish cities as far north as Aberdeen.

The action replaces a strike at CrossCountry by TSSA on December 17 which has now been cancelled.

TSSA members work as customer service managers, driver managers and trainers, and in control, customer communications, safety, timetabling and planning.

TSSA organising director Nadine Rae said: "Our members at CrossCountry do not want to strike, especially over the Christmas holiday period, but they are sick and tired of being taken for granted.

"They deserve a pay rise to help manage the escalating cost of living, and they rightly demand job security.”

Lynch accuses BBC of ‘right wing propaganda’ in heated interview round

10:44 , Josh Salisbury

Union leader Mick Lynch has accused the BBC of “parroting" right-wing propaganda in its coverage of the rail strikes.

The RMT general secretary also hit out at Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley, whom he described as "ranting", as he was interviewed about widespread industrial action.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Mr Lynch accused presenter Mishal Husain of showing bias when he was pressed on the average amount of pay lost by union members through strike action.

Asked to put a figure on the financial "sacrifice" he has said his workers have suffered, he said: "That depends on what shifts they were working, what rate of pay they are they earn and how many occasions they have to go out."

He added: "Why do you need that number?, likening the BBC’s coverage to "an editorial line I could read in The Sun or The Daily Mail or any of the right-wing press in this country".

He said: "I find this a shocking stance that the BBC will take - you’re just parroting the most right-wing stuff you can get hold of on behalf of the establishment, and it’s about time you showed some partiality towards your listeners, to working-class people in this country who are being screwed to the floor by the attitudes and policies of this Government."

Elsewhere during the morning media round, the union leader accused GMB presenter Madeley of "ranting" and suggested he should interview himself.

Lynch suggests strikes could be curtailed if deal struck

10:15 , Josh Salisbury

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch adopted a conciliatory tone when asked who was to blame for the disruption, writes Ross Lydall.

He suggested action planned until January 9, through a mix of strike days and an overtime ban, may be curtailed if a deal could be struck.

He said Transport Secretary Mark Harper had invited him to hold further talks with rail minister Huw Merriman and rail chiefs. “We will be doing that as soon as possible to try to develop a settlement,” he told the Standard.

But he said the Government had “torpedoed” previous attempts to strike a deal with the 14 train firms by inserting a last-minute precondition that the RMT accept the “principle” of driver-only trains across the rail network. “Putting that into the equation is a provocation to the union,” he said.

Thameslink and London Overground trains are already driver-only but the RMT believes trains are safer with guards.

Mr Lynch said: “We believe the Government has torpedoed the latest round of talks. We were talking to the train operating companies about a set of serious proposals, and at the last moment the Government insisted... that they put driver-only operation into [the negotiations]. They know we can never accept that.

“On Network Rail, we have a set of conditions we can’t accept and many of our members say those have got to be sorted before we consider pay.”

Asked how long the strike could last, Mr Lynch said: “I hope this doesn’t last very long at all but we have got four weeks of action scheduled right now, running through into the new year. I hope we don’t have to take all that action - if we get developments in the negotiations, perhaps we can reconsider that.”

Commuter: ‘It’s a total nightmare - thanks RMT'

10:09 , Josh Salisbury

The dire situation confronting commuters is being replicated at all major stations in London, including London Bridge, Liverpool Street, Waterloo and Paddington, writes John Dunne.

City worker Dev Chaudhary who travels into Liverpool Street from Essex said: "It's a total nightmare, hardly any trains and no guarantee I can get home. Thank you RMT."

Commuters also clashed with rail staff despatched to explain to the public that services were being cancelled and why.

One commuter told a staff member: “It’s not right what you are doing. It’s Christmas and you see punishing the public.”

Commuters hit out at ‘mean-spirited’ strikes amid nightmare journeys

10:01 , Josh Salisbury

Commuters from suburban areas including Surrey are also faced with nightmare journeys, writes John Dunne.

Carl Watts, 44, an engineer needed to get to Brighton for a meeting.

Speaking at Victoria station, he said: "All the board says is ‘wait’. I understood there would be a skeleton service. What with the impact of covid on the economy and now this misery for shops pubs and restaurants at Christmas when they should be recovering I think these strikes are mean spirited and detrimental to the economy."

Lucy Duffy, 24, a trainee  accountant managed to get on a train from Surrey to get to work on Westminster. However she doesn’t know how she will get home.

Ms Duffy, from Ascot, said: "I needed to get in today but the last trains, if there are any, are leaving very early. I don’t agree with this kind of holding the public to ransom. All the public service workers deserve a rise but it has to be reasonable."

Travellers fear missing flights home for Christmas over strikes

09:55 , Josh Salisbury

At Victoria station the suspension of Gatwick Express services has left hundreds of tourists and workers returning home for Christmas scrambling for alternative transport to catch their flights, writes John Dunne.

Giuseppe Bianchi, 26, a restaurant worker, was travelling back to Rome to spend the festive season with his family.He said: “I came to the station hours before my flight and I’m faced with the possibility of not making it.

“I am from Italy where there are a lot of strikes and sometimes public services don’t work so well. I thought Britain was different but it’s getting worse. I think the strikers are being selfish. It’s Christmas why can’t they declare peace with the government for this period.”

Carina Todorov, 52, was heading back to Bulgaria. She said: “We are very cold and angry. We are trying to get another train which is slower than the Gatwick Express but would still get us there but we are just told to wait. No one seems to know anything.”

Lynch: I’m an optimist but Government needs to show goodwill

09:23 , Josh Salisbury

RMT boss Mick Lynch has said he is an "optimist" but the Government needs to "show some goodwill and expertise and some facilitation to try and create a document, or a set of documents, that we can all support".

Speaking to the PA news agency outside Euston station, Mr Lynch said: "At the moment they know that what they're putting forward to us is... through their agents in the Rail Delivery Group and Network Rail, they know that that's not good enough.

"But I believe we can get there. I'm an optimist. And if we can get the rail minister and ourselves and the employers around the table perhaps we can work something up and I'm willing to do that whenever they're ready."

Transport Secretary refuses to deny driver-only operation for pay offer

08:51 , Josh Salisbury

Transport Secretary Mark Harper has refused to deny suggestions that the Government had insisted on driver-only operation being a condition for an improved pay offer.

But he rejected reports that he blocked an offer of 10% over two years, telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “I haven't blocked any offers - quite the reverse... I made sure there was an improved offer on the table, it's a very fair and reasonable offer."

Pressed repeatedly on whether he demanded driver-only operation as a condition of that offer, he said: “Reform has been on the table from the beginning of the process. It is not a new thing at all, it's been on the table from the beginning.

“It's part of a package of delivering reform that helps generate the savings that can then fund a reasonable, fair pay offer which is what is on the table.”

Network Rail boss denies ‘failure of imagination’ over rail strike

08:37 , Josh Salisbury

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines has rejected the suggestion there had been a “failure of imagination” on the operator’s part to reach a deal to head off rail strikes.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr Haines said there had been settlements reached with other unions and accused the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union of being “the common theme”.

He said: “I would suggest that the failure of imagination is with the RMT. They’re the ones who are not able to agree either in London, or with Network Rail, or with 14 different train operators.

“They are the common theme. We’ve been able to reach agreement, we’ve been able to use that imagination and reach settlement with two of their partner trade unions.”

Lynch: Government to blame for ‘spoiling Christmas'

08:21 , Josh Salisbury

RMT boss Mick Lynch has insisted his members still have the support of the public and said it is the Government which is contributing to the "spoiling of the people's Christmas".

He told Good Morning Britain: “I have no intention of spoiling people's Christmas. The Government is contributing to that spoiling of the people's Christmas because they've brought these strikes on by stopping the companies from making suitable proposals.

"That's the position that we're in and we'll have to keep this dispute going until we get a reasonable settlement and a reasonable set of proposals that our members want to accept."

He said that there was “plenty of time” before strikes on Christmas Eve if rail bosses and Transport Secretary Mark Harper wanted to get around the table to discuss a “set of serious proposals”.

“They've already invited me to a set of talks and we'll attend those to try and get a settlement to this dispute. And when our members decide that they want to accept it, that's when the dispute will be finished,” he said.

Mick Lynch denies targeting Christmas with strikes in tetchy interview

08:04 , Josh Salisbury

RMT union leader Mick Lynch has denied targeting Christmas in a tetchy exchange with Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley, accusing him of “ranting” and suggesting the presenter should interview himself.

Mr Madeley put it to Mr Lynch that the rail strikes were targeting people at Christmas and could put hoteliers, restauranteurs and retailers out of business during a normally busy time of year.

Mr Lynch said: "We're not targeting Christmas, it isn't Christmas yet, Richard, I don't know when your Christmas starts but mine starts on Christmas Eve."

Madeley branded that statement as "disingenuous", adding: "Commercial Christmas starts in December, you know that."

As the pair spoke over each other, Mr Lynch said: "Richard, why don't you just interview yourself?"

Pay gap between private sector and public sector widens amid strikes

07:54 , Josh Salisbury

Pay for workers in the private sector grew at the highest rate outside of the Covid pandemic period, new figures have revealed, stretching the earnings gap with public sector workers.

With rail strikes causing massive disruption across Britain from Tuesday, the latest pay data will only add to the pressure on ministers who are digging in on pay demands despite a wave of industrial action.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics, released on Tuesday morning, show that average regular pay growth for the private sector was 6.9 per cent in August to October 2022, and 2.7 per cent for the public sector.

The ONS said that outside of the height of the pandemic period, this was “the largest growth rate seen for the private sector and is among the largest differences between the private sector and public sector growth rates we have seen”.

Despite the increase in earnings, soaring inflation - 11.1 per cent in October - means workers in both the public and private sector are seeing real terms wages fall.

Read our full story here.

Transport Secretary: Government won’t blink first in strikes

07:44 , Josh Salisbury

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the Government would not blink first in the stand-off with unions striking on the railways, the NHS and other sectors.

He defended the Government’s stance against bigger pay rises being demanded by unions as being in the wider public interest.

Asked if the Government had a duty to blink first to end the paralysis hitting the country, Mr Harper told GB News: “No.

“It’s very important that we actually are mindful of the interest of the wider public and the taxpayer.”

Read our full story here.

‘Tide is turning on strikes’ despite RMT walkout, claims Transport Secretary

07:24 , Josh Salisbury

Transport Secretary Mark Harper has claimed the "tide is turning" within unions about strike action, despite Tuesday’s walkout.

He told GB News that a "fair and reasonable offer" had been made to rail workers.

“One of the unions accepted that offer - Unite workers have accepted it, the TSSA have recommended acceptance and we'll get their ballot results later this week.

“But the RMT have refused to do so and I would call on them to look again at this offer and and accept it.

“And it's interesting in their ballot yesterday, only just over half of their workforce actually rejected it - almost 40% of their workforce, even with a very clear instruction from their union leadership, actually voted in favour of it.

“So I think the tide is turning on people seeing that the offers we have made are reasonable, taking into account both the travelling public but also the interest of taxpayers."

‘Hard to see hope for ending rail strikes’ - Network Rail chief

07:16 , Josh Salisbury

It is hard to see hope in the negotiations on rail strikes, Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines has said.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are undertaking two 48-hour strikes at Network Rail, and 14 train companies, from Tuesday and Friday.

Asked if there is a glimmer of hope in the negotiations, Mr Haines told BBC Breakfast: “It's hard to see that today. I've learned, you know, through a long career, that sometimes the light is just around the corner.

“But where I stand today, I'd have to say that with the level of disruption the RMT are imposing, the way forward isn't obvious."

Commuters warned not to travel

07:13 , Josh Salisbury

Rail industry bodies have warned commuters not to travel unless “absolutely necessary” on Tuesday amid a walkout by the RMT union.

Only around one in five services are expected to run nationwide throughout the day and it is likely that there will be no trains at all on some routes.

Services may also start later on days following the end of the strike action.

Network Rail said: “Expect disruption today due to strike action and only travel if absolutely necessary.

“There will be significantly reduced train services across the railway.”