Passengers in Milton Keynes advised not to travel unless 'absolutely necessary' during latest round of rail strikes

The rail strike days will take place on this Saturday, October 1, followed by next Wednesday and then Saturday October 8.

Industrial action by the RMT, TSSA and Aslef across all three days will result in a combination of closed major stations, reduced services and on certain days, no trains at all on the West Coast main line, Chiltern main line and routes across the West Midlands.

This Saturday Birmingham New Street, London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street stations will all be closed with no trains running.

It is the first time that the RMT, TSSA and Aslef will strike on the same day. Nationally, only around 11% of services will run.

Anyone planning to travel into London ahead of the London Marathon should check here to see if their service is running and may want to travel on Friday if possible.

On Wednesday October 5 Birmingham New Street, London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street will be closed again, though Manchester Piccadilly will be open with limited services running.

A walkout by train drivers (Aslef) across 14 operators will also mean disruption for passengers on those routes. The operators impacted include Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry and West Midlands Trains.

Saturday October 8 is the RMT’s second strike day and will will see a reduced rail service in operation. Last trains will leave stations between 3pm and 5pm with final arrivals by 6.30pm.

As has happened on previous ‘strike days’ in June, July and August, thousands of specially-trained and fully qualified back-up staff will step in during the walkouts to keep as many vital services running when possible, say Network Rail.

Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s North West and Central region managing director, said: “Despite our best efforts to compromise and find a breakthrough in talks, rail unions remain intent on continuing and coordinating their strike action.

“Passengers who want to travel this Saturday, and indeed next Wednesday and next Saturday, are asked only to do so if absolutely necessary. Those who must travel should expect disruption and make sure they check when their last train will depart.”