Passengers face another day of disrupted trains around Britain today as thousands of rail workers in the RMT go on strike.

About 20,000 staff employed by 14 mainline train operating companies contracted to the Department for Transport in England started their third 24-hour strike in nine days on Saturday morning, in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Passengers have been warned to check train schedules before travel, with some operators urging people to travel only if absolutely necessary, but with wide variations in the services that will run.

Services were due to start late this morning and end early this evening, with reduced schedules across England and cross-border trains to Scotland and Wales also affected.

In some regions only about half of train services will run, while many branch lines and stations will be closed.

Long-distance trains will depart for the last time earlier in the afternoon, with schedules typically reduced to one an hour.

The affected companies are Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Great Western Railway; Greater Anglia; GTR – Great Northern and Thameslink; LNER; Northern; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway; TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said passengers should continue to check for updates. Trains may also be disrupted on Sunday morning because of the strike.

The RDG said the strike would affect family holiday plans and bring “disappointment, frustration, and financial strain for tens of thousands of people”, as well as affecting businesses.

The RMT has blamed the government and firms for refusing to negotiate, after the union rejected a below-inflation offer. Unions are also opposing the planned closure of ticket offices, currently the subject of an extended public consultation, which the RMT has described as a “fig leaf for redundancies”.

The union’s general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We’ve been on strike for over a year. This campaign’s probably been running for two years. The issues are the same. They’re attacking our jobs. They’re making redundancies. They’re closing services. We haven’t had a pay rise for four years and the people that remain, they want to cut our conditions and issue new contracts of employment.

“There is not an agreement in sight at the moment but we remain available for negotiation with the companies and with the government – but that’s up to them to invite us back to the table so that we can work up some solutions to the dispute.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The government has met the rail unions, listened to them and facilitated improved offers on pay and reform. The union leaders should put these fair and reasonable offers to their members so this dispute can be resolved.”

Some disruption and reduced schedules will continue from Monday 31 July, with the start of two more week-long overtime bans by train drivers in Aslef, who are also seeking an improved pay offer.

TransPennine Express has told passengers to expect a significant number of short-notice cancellations during the strikes, with the operator particularly reliant on drivers working overtime.

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