The second day of action will disrupt the UK’s rail network
Rachel Hall
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) in Rail Rail and 13 train operators are organizing their second strike of the week today after a tense agreement on pay and terms was not reached in tense talks earlier in the week.
Only about one in five trains will run, mainly on the main lines during the day, which makes the journey burdensome for many passengers in the UK. Network Rail said rail services “will look a lot like Tuesday” today, starting later in the morning and ending early in the evening, around 6:30 p.m. Passengers are asked to “travel only by train if necessary”.
Members of the Aslef drivers’ union on Greater Anglia trains will strike on Thursday in a separate pay dispute. The company, which is also affected by the RMT strike, advised passengers to travel only if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers’ Association (TSSA) announced that its Merseyrail members have accepted an offer of 7.1% for payment.
Today, I will keep you posted on all the key events in the UK strike. Please contact rachel.hall@theguardian.com if you have noticed something we missed.
Updated at 07.43 BST
Senior network planner Frank Byrd, speaking at the National Highways Regional Operations Center in the West Midlands, told the PA he was pleased that drivers had heeded signs on portal highways warning of a break for more than a week.
He said:
I would like to thank the people for taking and listening to our advice.
Currently, the look and feel of the network is that traffic is declining.
If you go in and out of the city and city centers, they are a little busier. People are struggling to find (s) to drive, to find parking spaces.
This morning, the program spoke with some of the key players involved in the negotiations between RMT and National Rail to get their views on why the talks were suspended again.
Tim Schoveler, regional managing director of Network Rail and lead negotiator, said:
We currently have an offer that amounts to a total of 3% of the table and we are working to improve this. It depends on availability. The difference between 3% on the table now and the 7.1% deal is £ 65 million each year.
Eddie Dempsey, RMT’s assistant secretary general, said:
What we can’t understand is how people in the industry can go to the media and say that we don’t intend to fire people, but send us a letter to start the legal process to consult about redundancies and refuse us. to give us an optional redundancy guarantee, which is the number one claim in this dispute.
Updated at 08.20 BST
British good morning Nitya Gracianna Rajan wrote on Twitter that Newport’s main transport hub had seen an increase in passengers on Tuesday from the previous week and, as a result, was launching more double-decker buses on regional routes.
#RailStrikes Day 2: Newport’s largest transport hub, Wales saw an increase in passenger numbers on Tuesday compared to last week. More double-decker buses have been delivered on regional routes, pending demand at rush hour this morning. https://t.co/LJithbjldj
– Nitya Gracianna Rajan (@NityaGRajan) June 23, 2022
The second day of action will disrupt the UK’s rail network
Rachel Hall
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) in Rail Rail and 13 train operators are organizing their second strike of the week today after a tense agreement on pay and terms was not reached in tense talks earlier in the week.
Only about one in five trains will run, mainly on the main lines during the day, which makes the journey burdensome for many passengers in the UK. Network Rail said rail services “will look a lot like Tuesday” today, starting later in the morning and ending early in the evening, around 6:30 p.m. Passengers are asked to “travel only by train if necessary”.
Members of the Aslef drivers’ union on Greater Anglia trains will strike on Thursday in a separate pay dispute. The company, which is also affected by the RMT strike, advised passengers to travel only if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers’ Association (TSSA) announced that its Merseyrail members have accepted an offer of 7.1% for payment.
Today, I will keep you posted on all the key events in the UK strike. Please contact rachel.hall@theguardian.com if you have noticed something we missed.
Updated at 07.43 BST
Gwyn Topham
Guin Topam of The Guardian has a full report on how last night’s talks unfolded, the failure of which led to today’s second day of strikes.
The head of RMT is hitting transport secretary Grant Shaps for “disrupting negotiations” in the dispute over pay, working conditions and proposing plans for “modernization” to reduce costs after the pandemic, he wrote.
Schaps said the RMT allegation was a “complete lie”, while Network Rail claimed the union had withdrawn from the talks.
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