The train drivers’ strike on Saturday crippled large parts of the network and caused widespread disruption for rail passengers.
Members of the Aslef union at nine rail companies began a 24-hour strike on Saturday morning, leaving parts of the country without services.
Football fans, tourists and holidaymakers were among the tens of thousands of passengers affected.
While companies not participating in the strike continued to run trains, they were busier than normal.
The strike action will also affect services running on Sunday morning, with those planning to travel advised to consider starting their journey later in the day.
It comes ahead of more robust action planned in the coming weeks amid worsening disputes over jobs, pay and conditions.
Aslef protested outside train stations, with officials saying they expected continued support from the public despite the impact of the action.
The companies affected by the strike are Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said rail companies were unable to offer a pay rise without permission from the Department for Transport, and he warned that if there was no breakthrough soon in the long-running dispute, more strikes were likely to be called.
Catch-22 Situation
“We don’t want to strike – strikes are always a last resort – but the companies and the government forced us to,” he said.
“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers because our friends and families also use public transport, because we believe in building trust in Britain’s railways and because we don’t want to lose money by taking strike action.”
“Companies have said they can’t or won’t give our members a raise.
“They are blaming the government… while the government is saying it is up to the train operators. So we’re caught in a Catch-22 situation where each side blames the other.”
Aslef said Saturday’s striking drivers have not had a pay raise in three years.
The union also voted for strikes by drivers at Chiltern Railways, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express, with the results due to be announced later this month.
Steve Montgomery, chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, criticized Aslef management for imposing “even more uncertainty” and said there was an “open invitation” for talks with them.
“Rail is too important to this country to allow decline,” he said, “but with passenger numbers still 20% below pre-pandemic levels, securing a bright future means we must adapt to attract more people back’.
He added: “We are calling on Aslef to come to the table so we can fund the pay rise we want to give our people, while delivering the improvements to Sunday services and greater punctuality that our passengers deserve.”
Earlier this summer, the RMT walkout became Britain’s biggest rail strike in 30 years.
Members of the RMT and TSSA unions will strike on August 18 and 20, with strike action by London Underground and London Bus drivers taking place on August 19.
“Completely false”
Meanwhile, the row continues to rage over cuts to Avanti West Coast’s Sunday services, which the company and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps have blamed on Aslef’s off-the-record actions, which the union has strongly denied.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said of the timetable changes announced by the company: “People deserve certainty and confidence that their train will run on time and although this move was unavoidable, it needs to minimize the impact on passengers.
“This is a prime example of why we need to modernize our railways so passengers benefit from reliable timetables that don’t rely on the goodwill of drivers who volunteer to work overtime in the first place.”
The Department for Transport said it was “absolutely false” to claim the government was blocking talks.
“We have said from the outset that we are pushing for unions and industry to reach an agreement that is fair to rail staff, passengers and taxpayers.
The department pointed out that £16bn had been spent to keep the railway running at the height of the pandemic, adding that without this support there was a risk of companies collapsing and thousands of jobs being lost.
Rail workers have risen above average over the past decade, with their wages rising by around 25% from £35,000 in 2011 to £44,000 in 2021, the department said, adding that pay rises of railway staff must be “fair and consistent with the wider public sector.”
Services affected this weekend
Avanti West Coast: All services cancelled.
Chiltern Railways: “Strongly” advises customers to avoid traveling unless they have to, given the knock-on effect from other operators. Busy trains, possible cancellations at short notice and delays. A reduced service of one train per hour runs on the Aylesbury Vale Parkway – Marylebone route between midday and 8pm.
CrossCountry: No services on Saturdays.
Gatwick Express: Although its drivers are not on strike, services are likely to be “affected” given industrial action at London Overground and Southeastern.
Great Western Railway: A limited service will operate between Bristol Temple Meads – London, Paddington; Reading – Oxford; Reading – Basingstoke. Schedules will start later and end earlier than normal.
Greater Anglia: Told customers to avoid traveling with their ‘severely reduced and disrupted’ service. One train per hour will run in each direction between London and Norwich; London – Colchester; Southend Victoria – Liverpool Street; Liverpool Street – Stansted Airport.
Heathrow Express: All services cancelled.
Hull Trains: Running a ‘significantly reduced’ timetable consisting of one service to and from King’s Cross.
London North Eastern Railway: No trains run north from Edinburgh Waverley, while southbound trains are limited to one every two hours. No trains run north from Leeds, while only one train runs south to London King’s Cross. One northbound train per hour departs from King’s Cross, while one northbound train and one southbound train depart every two hours from Newcastle.
London North Western Rail: No services.
Northern: Although services are running as normal, strikes affecting other operators may make trains busier than normal.
Southeast: All services cancelled.
Southern: Its drivers are not taking part in the Aslef strike, but services may be “affected” given disruptions to London Overground and Southeastern.
Stansted Express: Advised customers to avoid traveling on Saturday. One train in each direction runs between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street every hour. The engineering works mean there will be a bus on the journey between Waltham Cross and Harlow Town.
Transport for Wales: Although not directly affected by the strikes, services are likely to be affected by the reduced timetable of other operators. Customers are advised to avoid non-essential journeys between Carmarthen – Newport; Cardiff – Lydney; Shrewsbury v Wolverhampton; and the North Wales coast as trains are expected to be busy.
West Midlands Rail: No services on Saturdays.
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