Train passengers will face further disruption over the last weekend before Christmas as railway workers continue to strike on Saturday.
Most services will be affected as RMT union members conduct the second part of their latest 48-hour strike.
Network Rail has advised people not to travel on trains unless absolutely necessary.
The strikes come as shops and catering establishments try to boost trade during the important holiday season.
Thousands of rail workers have already gone on strike on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this week as part of a long-running dispute over jobs, wages and working conditions.
Saturday is the fourth day of strikes this week and the 12th since the RMT union voted for industrial action over the summer. Disruptions are also likely on Sunday, a day without a strike, as morning services start later.
- The rail strike days in December and January
- We must work quickly to end rail strikes, says RMT
- Strike daily: How Saturday’s action will affect you
Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, Britain’s largest railway union, said on Friday that both sides in the dispute must “work quickly” to end the strikes.
He said there had been “an exchange of views” but that it was important for employers, ministers and unions to come together.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents railway companies, said it was hopeful a solution could be found between the parties and said the talks had been an “arduous process” but “constructive”.
The RMT is involved in two bargaining battles, one with Network Rail, where it represents around 20,000 signalers and maintenance workers, and the other with the Rail Delivery Group, where it represents a similar number of workers at 14 railway companies.
Railroad workers have called for wage increases to meet the rising cost of living and better working conditions.
But rail bosses have said companies need to save money after the pandemic hit the industry hard, and have argued reforms need to be agreed to deliver wage increases and modernize the railroad.
Mr Lynch commended members for showing “tremendous dignity and rock-solid steadfastness” after the strikes earlier this week.
“They have shown how important their work is for the functioning of the economy and society as a whole,” he said.
Retail data company Springboard, which analyzes store footfall, suggested that the rail strikes on Monday and Tuesday affected the number of people shopping on High Streets and other retail destinations.
According to Springboard, footfall was 5.2% lower on all main roads in the UK from Monday to Wednesday compared to the same days in 2021.
The company said attendance on the high streets for those three days this week was 15.1% lower than for the same days last week.
Diane Wehrle, the company’s director of marketing and insights, said under normal circumstances attendance would have increased this week “as this is the last full week of trading before Christmas Day and is therefore the main shopping week with a higher footfall than last week”.
She added that “attendance is clearly being affected by a number of reasons”, but stressed a drop in attendance on the days of the strikes, particularly in central London.
Other impacts on footfall could be colder weather, rising cost of living or more people shopping online.
However, Ms Wehrle said same-week visitor numbers rose by 10.2% in 2018 and 7.2% in 2019 from the previous week in the two years leading up to the pandemic.
The next industrial action is scheduled from 18:00 GMT on Christmas Eve until 06:00 on January 27th. More strikes are planned for early January.
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