TRAIN travellers in south Devon will be severely affected by the latest industrial action by rail unions.

Services today will be ‘extremely limited’ until at least 6.30pm throughout the region.

Passengers are being advised to find alternative ways to travel.

Great Western Railway managing director Mark Hopwood apologised for any convenience caused and thanked passengers for their ‘patience and understanding’.

He said: ‘This will be a challenging week with a significant reduction in service.’

Although the company is working to offer ‘contingency’ timetables, many routes will have no service at all.

Today’s action by the RMT union affects both GWR and Network Rail.

There will be a knock-on impact on Thursday as signal boxes will not reopen until the morning.

On Saturday, train drivers’ union ASLEF is taking action which is expected to have a much greater impact and disruption will overflow into Sunday.

Passengers who have already bought tickets can claim for a refund or amend their tickets.

More than 40,000 railway workers who are members of the RMT union are staging today’s one-day strike.

All train operators are affected as the strike involves Network Rail staff, who maintain the railways in England, Scotland and Wales.

The unions are in an ongoing dispute with the government and rail companies over pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions.