Rail strikes: Yorkshire workers say strike could go on for 'a while'

And the same could be said for across Yorkshire, as Leeds Station stood empty, members of Unite the Union were striking outside Wakefield train station.

Last-ditch talks failed to resolve the bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, with all sides blaming each other for the lack of progress.

Around 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators have walked out.

Strikes are also planned for Thursday and Saturday. Large part of the country will have no passenger trains for most of the day, including Hull in Yorkshire.

But Yorkshire workers say they are simply standing up for what they deserve.

Aidan Gibson, a 33-year-old signalling technician from Wakefield, said the terms and conditions are "not for sale" and the strikes are a last resort.

We don’t expect 11 per cent pay rise, just job security," he said. “The whole country has been on life support financially. It’s looking it’s going to last a while as there’s no proposals.”

Paul Price, 63, an ultrasonic operator for Network Rail has worked in the industry for almost 50 years.

He said: "I’m pretty disgusted after 47 years service. The morale is very low. People were being praised during pandemic and now same peoples jobs at threat. None of us want this industrial action but nothing's happening.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said ministers would change the law to minimise disruption from strikes by requiring a certain level of service to be run and enabling the use of agency workers.

He told Sky News: “We are going to ensure that the law is firmly on the passengers’ side.”

He added that the industrial action is “taking us back to the bad old days of union strikes” as he vowed to “push on” with reforms of the sector.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said Network Rail had offered a 2% pay rise with the possibility of a further 1% later dependent on efficiency savings.

He told BBC’s Newsnight that Network Rail had “escalated” the dispute during Monday’s talks, saying: “They have issued me a letter saying that there are going to be redundancies starting from July 1.

“So rather than trying to come to an agreement in this dispute, they’ve escalated it by giving us formal notice of redundancy amongst our Network Rail members.”

He warned the dispute could continue for months, adding: “It is clear that the Tory Government, after slashing £4bn of funding from National Rail and Transport for London, has now actively prevented a settlement to this dispute.

“The rail companies have now proposed pay rates that are massively under the relevant rates of inflation, coming on top of the pay freezes of the past few years.

“At the behest of the Government, companies are also seeking to implement thousands of job cuts and have failed to give any guarantee against compulsory redundancies.”

The Department for Transport disputed Mr Lynch’s clams, adding that it has cost taxpayers about £600 per household to keep the railway running during the coronavirus pandemic.