Train strikes: Passengers told to avoid travel on Saturday
Passengers should avoid travelling by train unless absolutely necessary on Saturday due to expected widespread disruption from strikes, the rail industry has said.
As part of a protracted sequence of disagreements about jobs, wages, and conditions, unions are on strike.
On Saturday, only a fifth of the scheduled trains are expected to run, with services beginning and ending late.
Network Rail and 15 rail companies' RMT union workers will go on strike.
The union has been taking action on pay and conditions for the past eight days.
The disruption is expected to last until Sunday morning.
Customers have been forewarned by National Rail Enquiries that service cancellations or major disruptions are "inevitable."
"On Saturday, October 8, there will be very little to no service in several areas. Please only take the train if it is really necessary, plan beforehand, and research your destination before you depart."
Rail operators indicated that passengers having advance, off-peak, or anytime tickets that were impacted by the strikes could use them on Friday or as late as three days later.
If a train is cancelled or postponed, passengers can also modify their tickets to travel on a different day or receive a refund.
Because Network Rail signalling employees are going on strike throughout England, Scotland, and Wales, the RMT strikes will be more extensive than normal. As a result, even where train operators are not directly involved in the dispute, only a portion of regular trains will run.
The final direct train from Newcastle to London, for instance, departs at 13:53, and the final train from London to Nottingham departs at 16:32.
No trains will run between London and Edinburgh; instead, travellers must take the route through Glasgow. There won't be any direct services between Norwich and London either.
In a little more than a week, it will be the third day of significant rail delays.
A coordinated strike by numerous unions occurred last Saturday, resulting in only 11% of train services being provided.
Since drivers in the Aslef union went on strike on Wednesday, numerous train companies did not operate.
Scotland strikes
Separately, additional strikes will take place on Monday in Scotland as a result of the RMT rejecting a 5% salary offer from ScotRail, which it referred to as a "kick in the teeth."
ScotRail issued a "severe disruption" warning and announced that it would only operate "extremely restricted" services on three lines that day.
Only two trains per hour will run between Milngavie and Edinburgh via Bathgate and one train per hour will travel between Glasgow and both Lanark and Larkhall between the hours of 07:30 and 17:30.
