Rail Strikes to Disrupt High-Profile Weekend Events

Rail strikes will cause disruptions to high-profile events this weekend, including the FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby, and a Beyonce concert.

Members of the Aslef union will take industrial action in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

Manchester United and Manchester City fans are advised not to travel by train and instead drive to the game, which is expected to cause heavy traffic on the roads.

The strikes will also affect those attending the England vs Ireland test match at Lord's and Beyonce's Renaissance tour date at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Rail Delivery Group has estimated that only around 40% of trains will run, with regional variations resulting in no services running in some areas.

The strikes follow similar action by the train drivers' union and the RMT union, which saw 20,000 staff take action on Friday in their dispute with the government over pay and working conditions.

The Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan has described a government pay rise offer of 4% for this and last year as "dismal" and said that there is still strong support among train drivers to continue taking industrial action.