Millions to be hit by more rail strikes

Millions of travellers face fresh disruption next month after rail workers voted overwhelmingly for industrial action. Train passengers in Scotland face a total shutdown of regional services on 1, 6, 11 and 19 March as train drivers stage 24-hour strikes over pay.

In London, commuters will encounter massive disruption for 48 hours from noon on 5 March and again for a two-day period from midday on 26 March. Guards on Arriva Trains Northern are threatening to stage "no-fare days" in a long-running dispute over pay. Members of the RMT union will allow passengers to travel free on specified days. The industrial action in Scotland is being taken by drivers to try to maintain pay differentials with colleagues south of the border. Some 558 Scotrail drivers backed strikes with 37 voting against.

More than four in five Tube drivers in the Aslef union voted for disruption on London Underground. There was a similar ballot result among drivers who belong to RMT. The two unions claim the LU has reneged on a deal to close the £1,600 pay gap between drivers of passenger and engineering trains.