New Year but same story as strikes bring Shropshire railways to a standstill

Shropshire and Mid Wales have been left cut off again – with no trains running on the county's lines, both on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It comes ahead of action for the rest of the week on the network, with only Thursday seeing some Transport for Wales trains running from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton – with no further service to Birmingham New Street.

Transport for Wales has also warned trains running on Thursday will be busy as a result of the action.

Services are expected to resume on Sunday, although passengers are again being warned of potential disruption as the network gets up and running again.

John Watson, West Midlands regional organiser for the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT), said staff wanted to reach an agreement over the dispute.

He accused the Government of blocking a deal by placing conditions on discussions.

But Transport Secretary Mark Harper called on the union to "get off the picket line and round the negotiating table".

Mr Watson said: "At the moment the DfT and the Transport Secretary are putting a block on any potential deal and allowing the Rail Delivery Group to negotiate openly and freely with us to reach a settlement because they have included 13 conditions for there to be a settlement."

Mr Watson said the conditions included the closure of more than 1,100 ticket offices across the country, as well as the introduction of driver-only trains.

He said that despite the ongoing disruption he believed the public were still in support of the action.

"We have had car horns beeping this morning, people that are homeless saying they support us, the general public walking past and even the travelling public, saying that they understand why we are taking action," he said.

Mr Watson said he believed the action would continue until May – the date on the union's mandate for strike action – and beyond if an agreement could not be found.

"If the Government carry on the way they are then I would say yes, I can see this carrying on to May and even further in the future," he said.

He added that staff did not want to be on the pickets.

"It is not a position our members want to be in, because they are losing money as well in the middle of a cost of living crisis," he said.

"They are giving up money they need to pay their own bills for the long-term goal of trying to protect the rail service for passengers, but also to maintain their own standards of living."

He added: "We want to be round the table and reach a settlement. Our members want to reach a settlement, they don't want to be sat out in the cold and rain inconveniencing passengers, they want to reach an agreed settlement."

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said more meetings would take place with the unions next week.

He added: "There is a very fair pay offer on the table which has been accepted by two of the trade unions on Network Rail.

"The RMT recommended that their members didn't accept it, but actually a third of their members still voted in favour of it.

"I think it is time that the RMT got off the picket line and round the negotiating table to try and hammer out a deal with the train operating companies and Network Rail."