THE rail strike appeared to have bypassed Worcester on Thursday morning, during rush hour, with no cancellations or delays reported at Foregate Street Station.

Instead of scenes reminiscent of the London Tube Stations, with confused and annoyed commuters, the platforms at Foregate Street were, if anything, quieter than usual.

This may have been down to some commuters deciding to take alternative means of transport to work.

There was a information board outside the main ticket office, warning of possible disruption because of the First Great Western strike.

But Peter Dobbin, the station's customer services manager at Foregate Street, said that the strike was never going to affect the regular Midland London services, and even trains travelling to London had not suffered any delays during the morning rush hour, up to 8.30am.

He said: "We are up to speed on services. There have been no cancellations, no delays, and we are not expecting any problems at all."

There was a picket of First Great Western workers at Worcester's Shrub Hill Station, which started at 6am and was set to continue into the afternoon.

The RMT union was reporting solid support for the strike among its members on Thursday morning.

First Great Western was reporting likely problems for its trains in the Worcester area, for its North Cotswolds services.

A two hourly service was announced between Worcester and Oxford and, between Hereford and Worcester Shrub Hill Station, no First Great Western services would operate at all.

A First Great Western spokesman said: "Customers are advised to take London Midland services between these stations, and there is ticket acceptance on this line."