Commuters are being urged to find alternative methods of transport during the stoppage by First North Western (FNW) train drivers.

The stoppage began at midnight on Friday and is due to last until midnight on Sunday.

We want parity with the rest of the rail industry on pay and the conditions of the proposed six-month notice to leave employment are still unacceptable

Colin Smith

Last weekend, up to 220 buses provided a replacement service to cope with the strike, which is part of a long-running pay dispute.

A spokesman for FNW said it had cancelled about 2,000 trains last weekend, hitting an estimated 130,000 passengers.

The drivers, who are members of the Aslef union, have also voted against rest-day working, which could mean 160 trains on weekdays will have to be cancelled.

Further weekend strikes are planned by the drivers until 24 November.

Vernon Barker, FNW's managing director, said the company was doing its "utmost" to minimise the disruption.

'Unacceptable strings'

Last Friday the company urged Aslef to ballot its members over its pay offer - a 19% increase over three years - or agree to negotiations with Acas, the arbitration service.

However, Aslef has maintained there were "unacceptable strings" attached to the offer, one of which involved drivers picking up litter at stations.

The union's Colin Smith said: "We want parity with the rest of the rail industry on pay and the conditions of the proposed six-month notice to leave employment are still unacceptable."

He said previous arbitration attempts had failed to result in meaningful negotiations.