Planes, trains and postal service to be affected by pre-Christmas strikes
Planes, trains, driving lessons and postal deliveries are set to be disrupted by strikes in the days before Christmas.
Thousands of Border Force, National Highways, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and Royal Mail employees are due to take industrial action on Friday.
While these workers continue their strike into Saturday, staff represented by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), Abellio London bus workers, and Environment Agency employees will also launch separate waves of action.
Ambulance workers in Unison are to stage two fresh strikes in the dispute over pay and staffing.
Members of the union in five ambulance services in England will walk out on January 11 and 23.
The strike will affect London, Yorkshire, the north west, north east and south west and follows action by members of three ambulance unions on Wednesday.
Motorists warned of long queues as millions embark on Christmas trips
Drivers are being warned to prepare for long queues as millions of people embark on journeys to spend Christmas with friends and family.
The AA said Friday will be the busiest day on the roads this week, with an estimated 16.9m journeys being made across the UK. A further 16.6m journeys are expected to be made on Christmas Eve. Congestion could be increased due to a strike by thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail causing train services to finish at around 3pm on Saturday.
Train passengers face biggest fares rise in 11 years
Millions of train passengers face a hike in fares of nearly six per cent, which is the largest rise in more than a decade.
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced that regulated fares in England will increase by up to 5.9 per cent from March 5 next year.
PA news analysis of Office of Rail and Road data for standard class fares in Britain shows that would be the largest annual rise since a 6.2 per cent jump in 2012. Transport secretary Mark Harper said the 5.9 per cent cap is ‘well below inflation’, but Labour described the increase in the cost of train travel as ‘savage’.