Rail firms ‘in despair’ over UK government’s handling of pay dispute, says RMT boss

Union leader Mick Lynch says there has been radio silence' from ministers since before Christmas

• UK strike calendar - service stoppages planned for January

Rail companies are in despair" over the government's handling of the pay dispute, the union leader Mick Lynch said, before another week of strikes on the railways.

Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union, said he believed a deal could be reached but that ministers had been absent since a meeting in mid-December.