Train operator LNER managed to keep a skeleton schedule of trains running along the East Coast mainline through York today as train drivers belonging to the ASLEF trade union staged a strike.

A spokesperson for LNER said only about 15 per cent of its trains were running. The train company had forewarned passengers to avoid travel if possible today.

Some CrossCountry and Hull Trains services were also affected.

This afternoon, departure boards at York Station showed the 15.06 to Newcastle and the 15.20 to Manchester Victoria had both been cancelled. But most local services appeared to be running as normal.

The last LNER train to London on today’s reduced service will be the 18.58pm to King’s Cross, while the last train to Edinburgh Waverley will be the 16.54. The final train to Newcastle will leave York at 19.45

LNER says there is likely to be some disruption to LNER trains tomorrow, but on a much smaller scale.

Today’s ASLEF strike involved nine rail companies across the country,  including LNER, CrossCountry and Hull Trains.

Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: "We don’t want to inconvenience passengers. We don’t want to go on strike – strikes are always a last resort – but the companies, and the government, have forced our hand.

“The drivers at these nine companies have not had a (pay) increase for three years – since April 2019. That means, with inflation running at 11 per cent, and predicted to go even higher, that we are being told to take a real terms pay cut. And that is not acceptable.”