Which services are affected by Wednesday’s transport strikes in the UK?

More rail and road disruptions await commuters returning to work after the festive season in Britain as thousands of workers at Network Rail and train operators walk out on the second day of the strike.

Bus drivers joined rail workers in the industrial action on Wednesday.

Around half of Britain’s railway lines are closed and only a fifth of services are running, with people being advised to travel only if “absolutely necessary”.

Some trains running on Wednesday are expected to operate only between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

A “severely limited service” is running on strike days, and only between London Waterloo and Basingstoke, Southampton, Windsor and Woking. The vast majority of the network in Kent and East Sussex is closed on strike days.

Apart from rail workers, thousands of National Highways Workers, driving examiners, Rural Payments Agency will also join the walkout.

The Tube

Strikes will affect national rail services across the UK. Most TfL services, however, including the Tube, will continue to run.

Some disruptions are expected on London Overground, the Elizabeth line, the Circle line and parts of the District and Bakerloo lines. Limited services will run from 7.30am to 6pm between Wimbledon and Parsons Green, Richmond and Turnham Green.

The rest of the tube line will run as normal.

No services will run between Queens Park and Harrow and Wealdstone, while the Circle line will have reduced service.

Scott rail

ScotRail services will be severely disrupted on Wednesday as railway workers walk out in a second day of strike action this week.

Signal workers, guards, customer service and station workers are among those who downed tools on Tuesday and will do so again this week.

While the dispute itself does not involve ScotRail staff, industrial action will have a major impact on the operators ability to run services. Many of those striking are employed in safety-critical roles.

Twelve routes across the Central belt and Fife will operate on a reduced timetable and only between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Bus routes

Bus routes affected by the Abellio industrial action are most likely to be in west and south London. Route 481 will operate but with fewer services on weekdays from 7-8am and from 3-4pm.

Road disruption

Some of the National Highways traffic officers are on strike across the country. There is a possibility of disruptions on the road as the strike involves control centre staff and traffic officers who deal with the aftermath of accidents.

Meanwhile, the new general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has sought an urgent meeting with prime minister Rishi Sunak over the strikes.

In a letter to the prime minister, Paul Nowak called for a change in government direction and said public services were in crisis after years of “underfunding and understaffing”. “We can’t solve these problems without a fair deal for the people on the frontline,” he wrote.