Boxing Day strikes: thousands face travel chaos across Britain as action by railway and Border Force workers continues

Thousands of people face Boxing Day travel chaos across Britain as a rail strike means no services will be running.

Many have been forced to cancel or make alternative plans as the industrial action continues.

Usually hundreds of departures run on 26 December after the Christmas Day shutdown.

However, Network Rail said Britain’s railways were closed for a second consecutive day because of a strike by employees who are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT).

The strike is part of a long-running dispute between the RMT, and the train operators and Network Rail over pay, jobs and conditions.

Related: Thousands face Boxing Day travel chaos across Britain as rail strikes continue

Thousands of members of the RMT union at Network Rail went on strike over the festive period from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on 27 December.

Disruption was also expected for people travelling to and from airports with no services running on the Stansted Express on Boxing Day.

Planned upgrade work on the Heathrow Express means there are no services on Boxing Day, forcing airline passengers to find other ways of getting to and from Britain’s airports.

Rail schedules beyond Boxing Day were expected to experience disruption with trains starting later on 27 December owing to the industrial action.

The lack of trains has meant more people are expected to travel by road, with coach operators National Express and Megabus reporting heavy demand.

The AA expected 15.2m cars to take to the UK roads on Boxing Day as people venture out for the sales and attend football matches.

A resolution to the rail dispute appears a long way off with the RMT accusing the government ministers of going “missing” after the latest round of talks.

The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “Until the government gives the rail industry a mandate to come to a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and conditions of work, our industrial campaign will continue.”

Network Rail has said the deal it has put forward is “fair and affordable”.