Rail services in the UK are halted on Wednesday as around 9,000 train drivers in the Aslef union take part in another wide-scale strike.
The 24-hour strike over pay and conditions means trains are suspended on routes operated by companies including Northern, Avanti West Coast and Southeastern.
Others are offering limited services and the rail industry has warned passengers that trains operated by unaffected operators will be busy.
Some stations will also be closed.
Journey planners such as National Rail Inquiries have now been updated with the new timetables detailing how the strike will affect services.
The Aslef strike is the latest in a series of actions in which unions representing rail workers are fighting the government and companies over wages, job cuts and changes to working conditions.
Only rail companies directly involved in the strike are affected. This differs from RMT strikes, which also involve Network Rail signalers and therefore cause disruption across the country.
However, with 13 rail companies involved in Wednesday’s action, there will still be significant disruption.
Aslef has planned his strike around the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, which ends on Wednesday. It also coincides with several football matches.
People with tickets for Wednesday can use them on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.
The TSSA union also has plans for much smaller strikes this week including CrossCountry on October 5, Great Western Railway on October 6-7 and Avanti and c2c on Saturday October 8th.
The RMT is also holding another strike this Saturday.
Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at Rail Delivery Group, which represents industry operators, said the strikes would injure passengers, undermine businesses and “further hurt the railroad’s recovery”.
Unlike RMT strikes, this action by train drivers does not affect the whole of England, Scotland and Wales. That’s because Network Rail and its signal workers are not involved.
However, the number of railway companies affected is large. And the implications are severe.
Managers can drive trains on some routes, but some operators cannot drive anything.
Passengers will wonder how long the strikes will last.
If nothing changes, the answer seems to take months.
The RMT has already announced that it will re-elect members for further strike action, although the unions insist they would prefer to resolve the dispute through talks.
Train drivers’ union Aslef has made it clear that while it has made some progress in talks with the group representing the train companies, it does not believe an agreement is imminent.
Aslef says the rail companies involved in the dispute are enforcing real wage cuts – meaning wages are not keeping pace with rising prices.
The Rail Delivery Group has insisted that neither taxpayers nor passengers can be asked to pay more to fill the financial gap left by the pandemic – so reforms must be agreed to allow for a wage increase.
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