Miserable rail strikes set to cost the industry £600million this month and next

CRIPPLING rail strikes are expected to cost the struggling industry £600million this month and next.

Taxpayers are also forking out £175million a month to make up for the fall in ­passenger numbers since Covid, Network Rail say.

Half the network is due to shut between January 3 and 7 with another wave of walk-outs.

Just one in five services will be running.

Thousands of passengers were left stranded because of a late restart following the RMT’s debilitating walkout.

Their strike did not finish until 6am, meaning many services did not start until 9am or noon in some places.

Commuters in Redhill, Surrey, could not leave for the capital until 1.30pm — while the first train to Edinburgh left nearly half an hour late at 11am.

Huge crowds gathered at London Paddington and King’s Cross waiting for timetables to slowly update.

And hundreds waited for hours at London Euston because of engineering work, which also closed Liverpool Street.

Network Rail warned only 70 per cent of trains were running and to expect reduced services every day until the next strike on January 3.

A spokesman said: “Staff are returning to work so it is a much later start-up for passenger services.”