The second 24-hour national rail strike has emptied railway stations across Great Britain as commuters opted to work from home while ministers pushed ahead with controversial plans to allow agency staff to break strikes. Talks resumed between the RMT union and rail industry bosses as 40,000 union members at Network Rail and across 13 train operating companies downed tools. No firm progress was reported, with a third strike due on Saturday, as the two separate sets of negotiations in London, for railway maintenance and train company staff, continued throughout the day. While the legislation will not affect current rail strikes – because agency workers would not be able to replace signallers, the critical role in causing stoppages – Network Rail said it welcomed the move. The broadband provider Virgin Media O2 said it had recorded a 10% increase in usage on Tuesday, the first strike day.

Source: The Guardian June 24, 2022 15:50 UTC