Avanti passengers face disruption in fresh train strikes

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Passengers travelling on Avanti West Coast trains face disruption as staff walk out in an ongoing row over rest day working.

Rail managers who are members of the RMT union are staging their second walkout this week, which may affect commuters on their first day back in the office after the Christmas break.

In an interview with the BBC, the RMT's general secretary Mick Lynch claimed that train companies have chosen to pay their own managers "extortionate rates" for working on their days off, while those who are union members are paid lower rates.

Avanti said it was "disappointed" by the strike action, and advised passengers to check the details of their last train home.

On Thursday, Avanti will run one train per hour between London Euston and each of Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Crewe and Manchester.

It will also run a limited service between Glasgow and Preston, while the first and last trains across its services may be earlier than usual.

North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh will have no Avanti West Coast services on Thursday.

Following the planned industrial action over the new year, RMT members who are train managers at Avanti West Coast are currently planning to strike each Sunday between 12 January and 25 May.

"It is wholly unacceptable that replacement managers can be paid around £500 per shift, about double what our Avanti members earn," an RMT spokesperson said.

They claimed that it was a repetitive and "destructive approach", saying it was a reported practice that rewards managers with "instead of resolving disputes".

"At the heart of the problem is a serious staff shortage, which is why there's such a heavy reliance on overtime in the first place," they added.

RMT members had initially planned to strike in the run-up to Christmas, but these plans were called off last-minute.

The union said a revised proposal put to them was rejected by 83% of the 400 members involved in the dispute, before announcing new strike dates.

Avanti said it remained open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.