The new railway strikes are said to have led to an early exodus from the Tory Party conference in Birmingham ahead of the prime minister’s speech on Wednesday.
Liz Truss will address the conference in the Midlands later, but many people left early Tuesday night before train passengers face more travel chaos on Wednesday due to another strike in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
With a long winter of public service strikes awaiting Britain in the coming months, the prime minister would consider plans that would curb the rights of teachers, NHS staff and firefighters to strike, The Times said.
The paper reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the company secretary, has been told he must draw up a list of “important public services” – and the plans would try to put legal restrictions on strike action to ensure these services don’t stop completely during action.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef and the Transport Salried Staffs Association (TSSA) will leave, causing massive disruption to services.
Aslef Secretary General Mick Whelan told the PA news agency that the dispute would continue until the government intervened.
He urged Transport Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan to “release the shackles” of train companies so they could make a wage offer to workers.
“The message I get from my members is that they are in this for the long term and at the very least they want the union action ramped up,” he said.
Ms Trevelyan, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, said she is now seeing “clearer” the railway workers’ perspective after meeting Mr Whelan and RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch.
She said she met the couple “because I really wanted to understand where they come from”.
The train drivers’ strike will affect Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express), Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Transpennine Express and West Midlands Trains .
Members of the TSSA will strike at CrossCountry and take other forms of industrial action with several other operators.
The TSSA is also planning industrial action Thursday, Friday and Saturday, while members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will go on strike at more than a dozen train companies and Network Rail on Saturday.
Passengers are advised to check before departure on Wednesday and allow for additional time for their journey.
Train companies not involved in the strike will operate trains, but they are expected to be busy.
Shifts are likely to be interrupted in the early morning of Thursday as workers return to work.
The disruption will affect football matches and the final day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
Daniel Mann, director of industrial operations at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “These strikes are disrupting travel plans for millions of passengers and undermining businesses that continue to struggle with rising costs and this continued action will only further damage the railway’s recovery.
“While some railway companies are not involved in the strike, it is likely that services will be busy, severely disrupted or in some cases not running, so passengers should check the latest travel advice before departing.
“Passengers with pre, off-peak or anytime tickets affected by the strikes on October 5 can use their ticket the day before the booked date, or up to and including October 7.
“Passengers can also change their ticket to travel on an alternative date or get a refund if their train is canceled or rescheduled.”
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “We only saw last weekend that our strike action across the country was rock-solid. Our brilliant members remain determined to see their demands met in the form of a just settlement.
“We are not striking lightly, but are prepared to dig in as we seek a fair deal on wages, job security and conditions in the face of austerity, economic collapse and a cost of living crisis at the hands of this chaotic Tory society. government.
“With more strikes and wider union action ahead this week, it is time for ministers to get wise and act now to strike a fair deal that will end a winter of rail woes across the network.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport said: “It is incredibly disappointing that for the second time in five days we are experiencing disruptions to our railways, again affecting businesses, thousands of people at risk of not going to work or school. can travel, and doctor appointments are missed.
“Our railways are in urgent need of modernisation, but the only thing more strikes will do is punish the people who claim unions are standing 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 find a new way forward.”