[ad_1]
Thousands of people across Britain face Boxing Day travel chaos as a rail strike means no services will run.
Many have been forced to cancel or make alternative plans as industrial action continues.
Hundreds of departures operate on December 26, usually after the Christmas Day shutdown.
However, Network Rail said that a strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) had closed Britain’s railways for a second day in a row.
The strike is part of a long-running dispute between the RMT and train operators and Network Rail over pay, employment and conditions.
Thousands of members of the RMT union at Network Rail went on strike over the festive period from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on December 27.
Disruption was also expected for people traveling to and from the airport with no services on the Stansted Express on Boxing Day.
Planned upgrade work on Heathrow Express means there are no services on Boxing Day, forcing airline passengers to find other routes to and from Britain’s airports.
Industrial action was expected to disrupt rail timetables after Boxing Day with trains starting later on 27 December.
A shortage of trains means more people are expected to travel by road, with coach operators National Express and Megabus reporting heavy demand.
The AA expected 15.2m cars to take to UK roads on Boxing Day as people headed out for sales and attended football matches.
A resolution to the rail dispute appears a long way off with the RMT accusing government ministers of “disappearing” after recent talks.
The RMT’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “Our industrial action will continue until the government orders the rail industry to reach a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and working conditions.”
Network Rail has said the deal it has put forward is “fair and affordable”.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said ministers had “worked hard to facilitate a fair and reasonable offer”, adding that the public “deserve better than having their festive celebrations affected by a strike”.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 Border Force staff in the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have been on strike since December 23, with members of the armed forces providing cover.
According to Sky News, a Border Force official at Manchester Airport said staff members had told him that passengers being questioned were usually passed through “to avoid queues forming between strikes”, according to Sky News.
[ad_2]
Source link
