Passengers in England face 48 hours of disruption as two rail unions strike

theguardian.com:

Passengers are bracing for 48 hours of significant disruption to train services in England starting on Friday morning as two rail unions go out on strike on consecutive days.

The first day’s action will see 20,000 rail workers belonging to the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) strike, followed by another day of action on Saturday by 12,000 train drivers who are members of Aslef.

Train operating companies have warned that rail services during this period will be “severely reduced with variations across the network and no services at all in some areas”.

On Friday, about 50% of services are set to run, while that figure is due to fall to about 40% on Saturday, when there will be no services on networks including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern and Thameslink.

The RMT action is the latest chapter in a dispute with operators that began in spring last year and remains at a stalemate over pay, terms and conditions, and follows another Aslef strike that disrupted the Network on Wednesday.

Although affecting all train operators in England, Friday’s strike is likely to be less disruptive than the Aslef action, or earlier RMT stoppages that involved theunion’s dispute with the track and signalling operator Network Rail, but will affect most services across England and some cross-border services into Scotland and Wales.

However, the latest strikes will cause particular headaches for fans travelling to the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United on Saturday in London, Beyoncé fans with tickets to her Renaissance tour at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium, as well as parents planning half-term trips for the family.

The AA warned of busy roads and congested motorway services as a result, with