Rail travellers from Alsager were plunged into chaos today (Tuesday) as the next round of strikes hit the network.

The RMT union announced it was striking for 48 hours and rail bosses have warned of significant disruption to the network in the days which follow.

West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Northern Rail is urging passengers to only travel if essential.

And West Midlands Railway is also asking passengers travelling by rail over the entire Christmas period to check their journeys carefully as industrial action may impact trains, particularly those in the early morning and late evening.

Significant disruption in expected today, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: "It is very disappointing that our customers will once again be impacted by this unnecessary industrial action.

"With only a very limited service running and some routes with no trains at all, our advice to passengers is to only travel if your journey is essential. If you do travel over the Christmas period, please check your train carefully.

"Anyone holding a ticket for travel on a strike day can claim a full refund from their point of purchase."

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Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: "This is the last thing we want to do in the run-up to Christmas, but with the RMT pressing ahead with these 48-hour strikes, we have no option but to advise customers not to travel.

"We can only apologise once again for the disruption their action will cause."

Will Rogers, Managing Director for East Midlands Railway, said: "We are advising customers to plan ahead and only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on days affected by industrial action.

"Customers are also strongly advised to check when the time of their last train is before setting off and understand how the strike action affects their whole journey.

"At present we only have details of services from 13th December, up to and including, Friday, 16th December.

"Customers who need to travel on strike affected dates after Friday, 16th December, should check our website next week when the details have been approved."