National rail strike: what it looks like at Manchester Piccadilly today with very limited services running

One of Manchester’s busiest railway stations fell eerily quiet in the morning rush hour on the first day of the national rail strike.

ManchesterWorld went down to the city’s Piccadilly station on Tuesday (21 June) as the largest industrial dispute to hit the train network in decades began.

Hardly any passengers were around as the walk-out meant timetables were slashed.

As the industrial dispute got under way the war of words between the Government and trade unions continued on Tuesday, with further walk-out scheduled for Thursday and Saturday and disruption expected for the rest of the week as well.

The dispute is about pay and conditions, while unions are also furious about possible job cuts they fear will compromise safety and accessibility.

ManchesterWorld spoke to passengers who were having to take the bus to get where they were going, while RMT union members on the picket line explained why they had resorted to strike action.

Residents we spoke to expressed support for the industrial action, while some said more negotiations were needed to break the deadlock in the dispute.

Meanwhile, Figures published by location technology firm TomTom show that traffic congestion on Manchester roads was about 7% worse than normal as more people took to their cars to get around.