January blues: Rail strikes hit the return to work – with even London transport affected

Rail strikes are severely reducing services across the UK train network – with commuters forced to work from home on the first working day of the new year.

Some Transport for London services are also affected, with the Elizabeth Line and the London Overground the most badly hit.

Some other services – including the stretch of the District Line from Parson’s Green to Wimbledon – are also out of action due to the industrial action.

Staff at the RMT are walking out in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions which shows little sign of being settled.

The strikes will deal a further blow to London’s hospitality and retail businesses, who already saw their Christmas takings cut badly by industrial action in the run-up to the festive period.

The government said this morning that both sides – the rail companies and the unions – need to “come to the table in order to find a resolution.

“Passengers have rightly had enough of rail strikes and want the disruption to end,” a statement released this morning said.

The government has been accused by union leadership of “torpedoing” negotiations over the ongoing strikes.

What’s running into London?

Despite the rail strikes there are some services running into and out of the capital.

South Western railway is running four trains per hour from Waterloo to Windsor and Woking, and two fast trains to Southampton.

Southern is also running a restricted service though trains from and into London Bridge appear the least badly affected. The company is urging passengers to use its journey planner service before travelling.

Greater Anglia is running one train per hour between Norwich and London Liverpool Street and a further one between Colchester and the capital.

There is a reduced service of two trains per house on the Stansted Express.

Other operators are urging passengers not to travel due to disruption.