How will pre-Christmas transport be hit by strikes?

Travellers face major disruption over the coming days due to industrial action.

Here the PA news agency looks at how different modes of transport will be affected by strikes.

– Trains

Thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are going on strike.

Workers at Network Rail and train companies will walk out on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Services on those days will start later and finish much earlier than usual, with trains running between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Many parts of Britain will have no trains, including most of Scotland and Wales.

Disruption due to ice and snow is also likely to cause further misery to passengers on strike days.

RMT workers at Network Rail will also strike from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on December 27.

It is likely that passengers travelling on Christmas Eve will be urged to complete their journeys by the time that industrial action begins.

– Roads

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at National Highways in operational roles on roads and in control centres will take part in a series of staggered strikes from Friday to January 7.

National Highways, which is responsible for managing England’s motorways and major A-roads, does not expect the strikes to have a significant impact on traffic as only around 8% of its frontline workforce are PCS members.

But many of its routes already suffer from severe congestion during the Christmas getaway.

– Flights

Strikes by Border Force workers from December 23 are likely to cause disruption to passengers.

PCS members at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports will walk out.

Extensive passport checks are only carried out on arrival but long queues could see passengers held on planes after they land, causing delays to departures.

Airlines have been urged by Border Force to cancel up to 30% of flights on strike days to prevent chaos at airports.

But easyJet said it intends to run its full schedule as “we want to take our customers on their planned trips at this important time of year”.

– Sea ports

The only sea port affected by the Border Force strikes is Newhaven, East Sussex, from where ferry services operate to and from Dieppe, France.

A walkout in Kent affecting the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel would likely cause severe disruption.

– Eurostar

Eurostar will run a revised timetable between Tuesday and Saturday due to the reduction in running hours on rail lines caused by the RMT strikes at Network Rail.

The operator is not affected by the Border Force walkout, and does not anticipate its services will be affected when RMT members employed as security staff by private contractor Mitie at London St Pancras International go on strike over the next fortnight.