Rail passengers will face huge disruption or no travel today as train drivers at nine operating companies stage a 24-hour strike, halting services in many parts of England, Scotland and Wales.
Thousands of members of the Aslef union are on strike in the latest industrial action in a deadlocked dispute over pay and the “modernisation” of the railways.
The strike stopped most intercity trains between London and the Midlands, northern England and Scotland, and to South Wales. Parts of the UK, including the West Midlands, south-west England and Kent, will have no trains running today.
Train operators have warned passengers to avoid traveling on the affected routes. Those trying to travel should be prepared for very busy trains and possible last-minute cancellations, with the effects expected to last through the first half of Sunday.
Drivers will strike at Arriva Rail London, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, London North Eastern Railway (LNER), West Midlands Trains and Southeastern.
The strike means there will be no trains at all on Saturday on London Overground, CrossCountry, Southeastern, West Midlands Trains, London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast.
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the most popular stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements and content funded by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to secure our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Very limited services will run on Hull Trains, Great Western Railway, LNER and the Greater Anglia network, including the Stansted Express airport service.
The rail industry has called on unions to continue negotiations. Steve Montgomery, chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, said that without passenger numbers having recovered to pre-pandemic levels, “ensuring a bright future means we have to adapt”.
Aslef’s general secretary, Mick Whelan, said he would continue to speak out but the government was telling firms to cap pay well below inflation.
He said he had been around the country talking to drivers ahead of the strike – the second coordinated national strike by Aslef this summer – and that his members were “very much in favor of it and understand that we may be in here for the long haul”.
Saturday’s action is the first of a week of strikes by four separate transport unions which will severely curtail rail services. Trains will also be disrupted for four days starting on Thursday as 40,000 members of the RMT union at Network Rail and 14 train operators stage two 24-hour strikes on August 18 and 20. Several thousand TSSA members at Network Rail and seven train operators will also take action on the day.
The absence of signalers will allow only about a fifth of the normal timetable to run on strike days, while services are not expected to resume properly until late morning in the coming days.
Transport for London will also be disrupted on the day between national rail strikes, August 19, when RMT members and some Unite members at Transport for London and London Overground will strike. Most Tube and London Overground services in the capital will not operate. Parts of the city will also be without buses as 1,600 drivers in west London from the Unite union go on strike for two days from August 19.
Add Comment