Workers at three rail companies are launching strike action amid bitter rows over staffing and driver-only trains which will disrupt travel for passengers, including racegoers attending the Grand National.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Merseyrail, Arriva Trains North and Southern are walking out for 24 hours, with little sign of a breakthrough in the disputes spreading across the industry.

The strike at Arriva and Merseyrail coincides with the Grand National at Aintree, the biggest horse race of the year, which is attended by tens of thousands of people, many travelling by train.

Merseyrail is expecting drivers in the Aslef union to refuse to cross RMT picket lines, so a team of managers is being drafted in to provide a service before and after the race between Liverpool city centre and Aintree.