Timetables have been hit by strike

About 3,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) are taking action over the role of guards on trains.

It is the first of three 24-hour strikes affecting nine train companies.

The strike began at 0001 GMT on Friday and is due to last for 24 hours.

The delays to services have angered passengers.

A man at Northampton station told BBC Radio Northampton: "I pay a season ticket every month. I'm not very happy."

One woman said: "I'm going to Birmingham. I've got two exams. It's really messed my journey up."

Eight rail operators in the UK have already agreed to re-evaluate the safety role of guards.

TRAIN OPERATORS HIT Silverlink - running a 75% service ScotRail - 50% service, sleeper services cut Thames Trains - 90% service Connex South Eastern - 70% service Govia South Central - 70% service (98% in London) Arriva Trains Merseyside - 50% service Central Trains - 10% service Virgin Cross Country - 10% service Virgin West Coast - 60% service

The nine operators involved in the strike have refused to accept changes.

The level of services on Friday varies across the country.

Just one in 10 trains was running on Virgin Cross Country and Central Trains routes, while up to 90% of services are running on Thames Trains, where many services are driver-only operated.

Central Trains' managing director Nick Brown said: "We are running some trains in the West Midlands and East Midlands, using management staff who have obviously been trained.

"There are also some signs that some of the guards that are on strike have actually come to work normally today."

Virgin said its Cross Country service had been worst affected.

There were just two trains from Manchester to Birmingham on Friday morning and just one from Newcastle to Birmingham.

But spokesman David Ewart, said more services than expected were running between Sheffield and Bristol because some guards had turned up for work.

Passengers at Birmingham's New Street face disruption

"The situation is certainly not as bad as it could have been, mainly because a number of guards don't agree with the strike action," he said.

About 60% of Virgin main line services were running on the West Coast route between London, the north-west England and Glasgow.

A spokesman said: "Early indications are that more than 75% of normal Friday passenger loading is being experienced on this route.

"It hasn't kept people away from work."

Up to �10m of taxpayers' money will be given to the train companies in compensation for loss of business during the strikes

RMT general secretary Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, said the "hidden agenda" of train companies was to get rid of guards altogether.

He said: "The underlying agenda of these train operating companies is to do away with the guards, save their wages and turn big profits into bigger profits for their shareholders.

Driver pressure

Mr Crow added that more and more responsibilities had been placed on train drivers' shoulders over recent years, increasing the pressure which led to accidents and trains going through red lights.

"We believe in taking as much pressure off the train driver as possible and allowing him or her to concentrate on driving the train and the guard can look after the passengers.

"If the driver is taken ill or incapacitated or involved in a collision, it is the guard that has the responsibility for putting certain safety devices down on the track to stop another train colliding with it."

Steve Bence, operations director of the Association of Train Operating Companies, rejected Mr Crow's claim that operating companies wanted to get rid of guards. "There is absolutely no underlying agenda to do away with guards.

"If the RMT want to change railway safety rules, they have to send a proposal to a company called Railway Safety, who as of yesterday are saying they have not received a proposal from the RMT."

Further 24 hour strikes are planned for Monday and 17 April.