Train strikes news – latest: Rail workers to stage 24-hour walkout on Boxing Day evening

Workers at a rail operator will stage a 24-hour strike from Boxing Day evening, continuing the wave of industrial unrest sweeping across the country.

Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) at CrossCountry will walk out from 9pm as part of a long-running campaign for a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which addresses the rising cost of living.

The union believes that walkouts by staff will severely impact services at CrossCountry, which covers large swathes of the country, from Penzance to the Midlands, Wales and northern England through to Scottish cities as far north as Aberdeen.

TSSA members work in roles including customer service managers, driver managers, trainers, control, customer communications, safety, timetabling and planning.

Managers are based at stations including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Bournemouth and Plymouth.

TSSA members at Great Western Railway will strike from noon on Wednesday to 11.59am on Thursday, and at West Midlands Trains from noon on Wednesday to noon on Thursday.

TSSA organising director Nadine Rae said: “Our members at CrossCountry do not want to strike, especially over the Christmas holiday period, but they are sick and tired of being taken for granted.

“They deserve a pay rise to help manage the escalating cost of living, and they rightly demand job security.

“The company, like all the train operators under the control of the Department for Transport, need to face up to the fact that only serious offers which meet our aspirations will end this dispute.

“Rail workers are seeking basic fair treatment: not to be sacked from their jobs; a fair pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living crisis; and no race to the bottom on terms and conditions.

“Make no mistake we will again see trains coming to a halt unless rail bosses and the Government do the right thing for our members and our precious rail network which so many people rely on.”

– Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are continuing with a strike in a separate dispute over jobs, pay and conditions

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union who normally check passports will strike from 23 December until the end of the year, with the exception of 27 December. UK Border Force staff will also strike at the port of Newhaven in East Sussex on the same dates.

Almost two million passengers are booked to fly into the affected airports during the stoppages. Could their festive flights be disrupted – and what are the airports and airlines saying?

These are the key questions and answers, Simon Calder writes:

The PCS union has said the public should blame the government for the incovenience caused by its going on strike.

In a tweet, the union said: “We recognise that the public will be inconvenienced by PCS civil service members going on strike.

“But if you are feeling angry, blame the government which has undervalued its own workers for many years and could choose to end these strikes.”

Shoppers lined up outside stores to make the most of Boxing Day sales today.

Passengers arriving at some of the UK’s major airports over the festive season could face long queues as UK Border Force staff go on strike – with a threat of Christmas flight cancellations.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced industrial action from 23 December until the end of the year, with the exception of 27 December.

“Without doctors and nurses I would be dead. Several times over, in fact,” James Moore writes.

As the latest rail strike continues into its third day, Britain’s railways are at a standstill – with a warning to passengers to avoid all but essential travel until 9 January.

But many people are on the move within the UK, with flights, ferries and long-distance coaches already busy.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

The rail dispute will continue into the new year unless the Government gives the industry a mandate to negotiate a settlement to the long running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, a union has warned.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) accused ministers of “abdicating their responsibility” to sort out the industrial unrest.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has claimed the Government is blocking rail employers from making a deal.

With many hundreds of trains being cancelled even on a day with no strikes, rail passengers in Britain face the most relentless disruption to journeys in a lifetime.

Between Thursday 22 December and Sunday 8 January, The Independent calculates that up to a quarter of a million trains will not run as they would in normal times – as festive engineering work and staff shortage exacerbate the worst strike action since the 1980s.

The leading cause of disruption is the sustained series of strikes by members of the RMT union. In the past six months workers for Network Rail – the infrastructure provider – and around a dozen train operators have walked out on 12 days.

Passengers arriving at some of the UK’s major airports over the festive season could face long queues as UK Border Force staff go on strike – with a threat of Christmas flight cancellations.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced industrial action from 23 December until the end of the year, with the exception of 27 December.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports: