Thousands face travel chaos on Boxing Day across Britain as rail strikes continue | Railway strikes

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Thousands of people face travel chaos on Boxing Day across Britain as a railway strike means no services will operate.

Many were forced to cancel or make alternative plans as the industrial strike continued.

Hundreds of Departures usually run on the 26th of December after closing on Christmas Day.

However, Network Rail said British Rail was closed for the second consecutive day due to a strike by staff members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.

The strike is part of a long-running dispute between RMT, train operators and Network Rail over wages, jobs and conditions.

Thousands of Network Rail’s RMT union members went on strike over the festive period from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on 27 December.

Disruption for people traveling to and from airports with no services running on the Stansted Express was also expected on Boxing Day.

Planned upgrade work on the Heathrow Express means there are no services on Boxing Day, forcing airline travelers to find other ways to get to and from Britain’s airports.

Train times after Boxing Day were expected to experience disruption with trains starting later on 27 December due to the industrial strike.

The lack of trains has meant more people are expected to travel by road, with bus operators National Express and Megabus reporting high demand.

AA expected 15.2 million cars to take to UK roads on Boxing Day as people ventured into sales and attended football matches.

A solution to the railway dispute seems a long way off as the RMT accuses government ministers of being “missing” after the latest round of talks.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “Until the government gives the rail industry a mandate to reach a negotiated settlement on job security, wages and working conditions, our industrial campaign will continue.”

Network Rail said the deal it offered was “fair and affordable”.

A Department for Transport spokesman said ministers had “worked diligently to facilitate a fair and reasonable showing”, adding that the public “deserved better than their celebratory celebrations were affected by the strikes”.

Meanwhile, around 1,000 Border Force personnel in the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have been on strike since December 23 with cover provided by the armed forces.

According to Sky News, a Border Force officer at Manchester Airport said members of staff told them that arriving passengers who are usually being questioned are “waved in order to avoid queues building up amid strikes”.

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