What you need to know about the walkout by Aslef train drivers, by the BBC’s Zoe Conway.
The potential for industrial action to disrupt your life has not gone away – certainly not this week, when the railways will be hit by three days of strikes.
Expect your half-term plans to be affected. Expect it to be harder to get to Saturday’s FA Cup Final and the Epsom Derby.
Members of the train drivers union Aslef walk out on Wednesday – but expect disruption from Tuesday evening onwards. They strike again on Saturday. The impact on the railway service on both days will be severe with only 40% of trains running.
In between, on Friday, a different group of rail workers are walking out – guards and station staff who belong to the RMT union. Their action will be marginally less disruptive, with half of trains likely to be operating that day.
Which train operators will be affected on Wednesday?
The following operators will be affected:
Although the affected train operators are based in England, some of their services run into Wales and Scotland so journeys to those areas will also be disrupted.
What’s the advice for passengers?
There will be wide regional variations in which services are disrupted so passengers are advised to check their journey before travel.
Additionally, there could be some spillover effect either side of Wednesday’s strike, so passengers should check the last train times on Tuesday evening and train times on Thursday morning.
Operators not listed above, for example Scotrail and Hull Trains, are not affected by strike action. But some train companies not on strike could be busy.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) advises that customers with Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets for travel on Wednesday 31 May can instead use their tickets on Tuesday or up to and including Friday 2 June.
The RDG says passengers with Advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.
It further advises that if the Advance ticket is for a train scheduled for a strike day, but it is not cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, and a customer prefers not to travel, they should contact their ticket retailer.
If passengers have a return ticket they may also be entitled to a fee-free refund if any part of the journey is cancelled due to strikes.
Season ticket holders (flexi, monthly or longer) who cannot travel can claim 100% compensation through Delay Repay for the strike date of Wednesday 31 May.
You can read more or watch this report about why people are taking strike action.
You can read further advice from National Rail about the strikes here.
Additional reporting by transport correspondent Katy Austin.
How are you affected by the strikes? Are you taking part in strike action? You can email: [email protected].
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