Rail strikes are set to bring large parts of the United Kingdom’s network to a grinding halt today when union members walk out in their long-running dispute over pay.
Members of the train drivers’ union Aslef walk out today, while members of the RMT union are set to walk out on Saturday in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
An overtime ban on Saturday will follow the 24-hour walkout by members of the train drivers’ union Aslef.
Approximately 20,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) and 14 operators will also walk out on Saturday, in disputes over their pay, jobs and conditions.
The strikes are set to cause a major disruption on the country’s rail network across the weekend during the last of the school summer holidays.
Today, there will be no services from operators, including Northern, TransPennine, Avanti West Coast, Southern and Thameslink. On Saturday, fewer than half the trains will be running across the country with rail bosses warning of short notice cancellations.
Passengers have been advised by South Western Railway to only travel if “absolutely necessary” today, warning that most of its network will be closed.
The government is being blamed by both unions for the disruption, which they say is the result of ministers refusing to allow train operators to make an offer they can recommend to their members. Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary said that the government appeared to be happy to let passengers, and businesses suffer in the mistaken belief that they could bully them into submission. He stated that they did not care about passengers, or Britain’s railway, but that “they will not break us”. He said that train drivers at these companies had not had a pay rise for 4 years, since 2019, while inflation has sky rocketed.
He claimed that his union had not had contact with rail operators since late April, and from the government since early January.
Mr Whelan added that this showed the contempt in which the companies, and the government, hold passengers, staff and public transport in the UK.
List of train companies affected by today’s strike:
• Avanti West Coast – no trains
• C2C – no trains
• Caledonian Sleeper – Although operator’s staff are not participating in the strike, services will not call at Watford Junction as the station will be closed due to the industrial action
• Chiltern Railways – no trains
• CrossCountry – no trains
• East Midlands Railway – no trains
• Gatwick Express – no trains but Southern will be calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only
• Great Northern – no trains
• Great Western Railway – extremely limited service, only between around 7 am and 6.30 pm.
• Greater Anglia – reduced services between London Liverpool Street and each of Norwich, Colchester and Southend Victoria
• Heathrow Express – reduced service with only one train per hour in each direction between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport
• London North Eastern Railway (LNER) – extremely limited service with around one train every two hours in each direction
• London Northwestern Railway – no trains
• Northern – no trains
• South Western Railway – reduced service only from 7 am and 7 pm. Trains will run only between London Waterloo and each of Basingstoke, Twickenham and Woking; and between Guildford and Woking.
• Southeastern – no trains
• Southern – very limited service to operate, calling only at at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria
• Stansted Express – one train per hour in both directions between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport
• Thameslink – no trains
• TransPennine Express – no trains
• West Midlands Railway – no trains
