People planning to take the train home for Christmas could face real problems after the latest action from RMT on Greater Anglia was announced.

There had been a sigh of relief when the latest round of rail strikes avoided the main Christmas period when people are trying to reach their families.

There are 48-hour strikes on December 13/14 and 16/17. The RMT will also be striking on January 3/4 and 6/7.

Most people will be making Christmas journeys in the days immediately before and after the main holidays - which will not have strikes.

However, the RMT has called an overtime ban between December 18 and January 2, which is likely to cause disruption with many trains having to be withdrawn because of a lack of qualified staff.

Officials at Greater Anglia will be trying to assess the likely impact of this action over the next week and hope to be able to publish an emergency timetable by the beginning of December.

However, that is likely to have fewer services running - which could mean those trains which are running could be quite full.

And there are also line closures between Ingatestone and Liverpool Street between Christmas and January 2 for maintenance work.

A spokeswoman for Greater Anglia said: "We won't know for some days just how great the impact will be, but passengers need to be aware that their trains may be fuller than they would like."

There have been further talks between the government, train operators and the unions - but there seems to be little sign of a breakthrough in an industrial dispute that has been simmering for more than six months.

There is a very limited service this Saturday because of a strike by the drivers' union ASLEF and on the strike days there will also be a very limited service on only a few lines.

But the advice from Greater Anglia is not to travel on strike days unless absolutely vital.

East Anglian Daily Times: Greater Anglia MD Jamie Burles.Greater Anglia MD Jamie Burles. (Image: Supplied)

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We are very sorry that our customers are once again disrupted by strikes and we are having to advise people to avoid travelling on our trains.

“We know how much people were looking forward to a Christmas without the Covid restrictions of the last two years and now they are having to plan around strikes.

“As a rail industry we are keen to get this dispute settled and talks will continue with the unions to do everything possible to reach an agreement.”