Hours before the next round of national rail strikes was due to begin, the RMT union called off the action – saying it has “secured unconditional talks on Network Rail and the promise of an offer from the train operating companies”.
But the decision has come too late to reinstate many of the widespread train cancellations that have been made because of the strikes.
Which strikes have been called off?
Strikes had been planned by staff working for Network Rail on Saturday 5, Monday 7 and Saturday 9 November, with staff at 14 train operators stopping work on 5 and 9 November.
The union says it “will now enter into a period of intensive negotiations with Network Rail and the train operating companies”.
How much difference will it make it to people travelling this weekend?
It varies according to the train operator and route.
Rosters are usually drawn up a week in advance, and therefore few extra services will run on Saturday beyond those already planned: the schedules are already “baked in”.
The first cancellation as a result of the national strikes, Friday’s 5.30pm Grand Central from Sunderland to London, went ahead two hours after the industrial action was called off.
GWR, connecting London Paddington with South Wales and the West of England, said: “Services tomorrow [Saturday] will still be severely affected with no trains running on many parts of the network.”
A notable exception is Southeastern, linking London with Kent and East Sussex, which has restored a fairly decent service to Canterbury, Hastings and Maidstone.
Which trains are running on intercity lines?
On Saturday, planned “strikebreaking” services will run on key intercity lines, with one or two trains an hour for London to Brighton via Gatwick, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Cambridge and Norwich.
There are also links around Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Trains will start later and finish much earlier than usual, between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
Planned engineering work is reducing some intercity services on the East Coast and West Coast main lines.
Early trains on Sunday morning that have already been cancelled in anticipation of the strike are unlikely to be reinstated.
Will Monday and the rest of the working week be back to normal?
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, representing train…
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