Rail passengers are set for more travel chaos today, due to further industrial action in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.

Pleas have been made ‘to agree a new way forward’ to put an end to further ‘rail misery’ over winter.

Thousands of train drivers have walked out as part of today’s strike.

Lines such as Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, LNER, London Overground and Southeastern are all impacted.

Train companies not involved in the strike will be running services, but these are expected to be extremely busy, and delays could drag on until tomorrow morning.

The disruption will affect football fixtures and the final day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan has urged Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan to ‘lift the shackles’ from train companies so they could make a pay offer to workers.

‘The message I am receiving from my members is that they are in this for the long haul and if anything they want industrial action to be increased,’ he said.

‘With more strikes and wider industrial action in the offing this week, it’s time for ministers to get wise and act now to deliver a fair deal which will halt a winter of rail misery across the network.’

What should you do if you have a ticket to travel today?

Passengers with advance, off-peak or anytime tickets affected by the strikes on 5 October can use their ticket on the day before the booked date, or up to and including 7 October.

Passengers can also change their tickets to travel on an alternate date or get a refund if their train is cancelled or rescheduled.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘It is incredibly disappointing that for the second time in five days we face disruption on our railways, with businesses once again being affected, thousands of people at risk of being unable to travel to work or school, and doctors’ appointments being missed.

‘Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation but all more strikes will do is punish the very people unions claim to stand up for and push passengers further away.

‘We urge union bosses to reconsider this divisive action and instead work with their employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.’

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