picket lines outside liverpool lime street station this morning, the starting point for thousands ofonal date it docked if you are going to aintree on the train, you can expect some problems. the rmt says support for strikes on merseyrail and northern is rock solid with widespread delays, packed cancelled trains and replacement buses likely across all services. to limit the disruption, merseyrail has laid on a special timetable to and from the course but other routes could be hit asa course but other routes could be hit as a result it up northern rail says it has moved the times of its last services from lime street to later in the evening. the strikers about the role of drivers on trains and began an southern rail a year ago and has spread to the northern areas in recent weeks. southerner said it expects to operate almost normal service because more of its trains can run with only a driver on board. so far talks to resolve the dispute have broken down. we canjoin our have broken down. we can join our correspondentjudith moritz outside liverpool lime street station and what sense are

judith moritz is that liverpool's lime street station.nal day, more than 40,000 rail passenger journeys made national day, more than 40,000 rail passengerjourneys made on this day. today the passengers are walking past a picket line manned by the rmt union and the northwest regional organiser is with me. darren, what prompted the strike action? it is not the first time you have been out on strike and you have chosen grand national day. any strike is high profile and there are three companies taking industrial action today, and this day has been chosen because it has come from our membership. they want to strike on the 8th of april, on a weekend, under anti—trade union laws we need to give 14 days it noticed there by the time the committee considered the time the committee considered the decisions, after the last action was taken there were increased notice periods. this dispute has wise and on that —— widened on merseyside and the north of england but today has been set by the membership. you will i presume but today has been set by the m

is also the busiest day of the year of the year in liverpool, passengers pouring off trains on their way to aintree. today, those arriving at lime street belonging to the rmt union, striking over the introduction of driver only trains. the fact that there is strike action on today is solely down to the employers and their intransigent attitude for refusing to negotiate a sensible solution with the trade union. during the course of the whole grand national festival, one in three race goers gets to and from aintree by merseyrail train. and today, on grand national day itself, the company carries an extra 20,000 passengers. as long as they're still running, that's fine. they shouldn't take guards of the train and just have drivers. i totally agree with the strike. i think they deserve a medal actually. the strikes, fair play, they need to get a better deal for their jobs, then fair enough, quite right. are you concerned enough about getting home? no, i'll be fine, i'll get a bus or a taxi. merseyrail managers stepped in to operate extra trains at peak times, but on focusing all their efforts on transport for the race, they admit other rou