United Kingdom

Train, airport strikes spark Christmas warning – latest travel news

Related: Ambulance strike to continue as talks fail to break impasse

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Families are being urged to get their Christmas travel plans in motion “as soon as possible” as a four-day motorway strike, set to coincide with a new wave of rail cancellations, threatens travel chaos over the festive period.

National Highways staff will strike from today until Christmas in the latest phase of strike action by the country’s biggest civil servants union ahead of the Christmas weekend.

The strike involves members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working as road workers and operational staff at a regional operations center in London and South East England.

It comes as industrial action across Britain’s rail network will see some trains stop running from Friday ahead of national strikes that start on Christmas Eve.

The Independent’s Simon Calder urged families to hit the roads as soon as possible, saying: “I’ve never seen a Christmas like this for travel stress.

He added: “It will become very, very difficult towards the end of the week and into Christmas as the roads will be very busy.

“And the railways, well, services will end either on Friday night or quite early on Saturday.”

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Government may ‘accelerate’ NHS pay rise in 2023 as more strikes loom

Rishi Sunak’s government could fast-track NHS pay rises next year after 48 hours of historic strikes by nurses and paramedics, according to reports.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is said to be ready to offer an accelerated pay deal in 2023 in a bid to prevent further strike action next year.

A source close to Mr Barclay revealed he is keen to “speed up” the pay review process – due to start in April – to give NHS staff a pay rise to break the deadlock.

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 11:45 am

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Railroad strikes begin in France

Semi-official strikes by train guards in France have disrupted the Christmas travel plans of around 200,000 passengers on SNCF, the national operator.

Hundreds of guards working for SNCF will stop work over the next two weekends as part of a pay dispute. They have rejected a deal offering a €600 (£522) bonus on top of an overall 6 per cent pay rise across the rail organisation.

Their union, SUD Rail, has not officially endorsed the strike, which is being coordinated on social media by a “national collective of guards” known as the CNA. But the union is helping with the communication about the walkout.

As in the UK, Friday is expected to be the busiest day of the winter as travelers head to their Christmas destinations. Many trains were fully occupied before the strike.

Two of the three TGVs (high-speed trains) are expected to run between Paris and the south of France and from the capital to the Atlantic Ocean. About half of trains in northern France will run, as will 75 percent of services between Paris and Strasbourg on the German border.

Christophe Fanichet, SNCF chief executive, told Franceinfo radio that the Christmas and New Year strikes were “really unacceptable” and that passengers with advance tickets whose trains were canceled would be refunded twice the original price of their journey.

He said the gesture would cost SNCF “several tens of millions of euros”.

Alternatively, passengers can switch to any other day on which seats are available and will not need to pay a difference in fare.

Simon Calder December 22, 2022 11:30 am

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Christmas travel mayhem: all the train and flight woes to overcome this week

The busiest travel week of the winter has begun, with millions of people on the move between now and December 25. But passengers are facing a wide range of disruptions on the railways and in the skies, with strikes, staff shortages and weather conditions combining to create a travel nightmare ahead of Christmas.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has everything you need to know when the race starts:

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 11:15 am

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National highways strike until New Year

National highway strikes in London begin today and are set to last until Christmas, but union leaders warn this is just the beginning.

Industrial action on Britain’s roads will resume on December 30 when PCS members in the West Midlands and South West England road service take action.

The walks are then expected to hit the East Midlands and East Anglia on January 6.

PCS also says all its National Highways members working for the traffic service will take action on January 3 and 4.

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 11:00 am

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Rail chaos spreads ahead of next national rail strike

Rail passengers between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and South Scotland are facing delays and overcrowded trains.

Avanti West Coast has canceled at least 40 express services to and from London Euston for Thursday, blaming crew shortages. The disrupted services include five in each direction between the capital and Manchester Piccadilly and the same number to and from Liverpool Lime Street.

Ahead of strike action by members of the Unite union working for East Midlands Railway, commuters between London, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield will have no northbound trains after 7.35pm on Thursday.

A skeleton service will run on Friday 23 December, with no trains – apart from the Corby-London shuttle – on Christmas Eve morning.

The next RMT national strike starts at 6pm on December 24 and ends at 6am on December 27.

Simon Calder December 22, 2022 10:45 am

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Thursday will be a ‘very busy day for emergency departments’

Matthew Taylor of the NHS Confederation said he expected Thursday to be “a very busy day for emergency departments” following strikes by ambulance workers.

“This is the worst possible time for industrial action,” he told Sky News, pointing to the winter pressures already facing the NHS.

He said there was currently a gap between “demand and capacity” and that “consistent funding” and the “right policies” would be needed to address this.

“There is now money that has been made available to help people out of hospital into the community, to give them support at home and that is welcome.

“The problem is that the money wasn’t announced until a few weeks ago, so it didn’t get to the front lines.”

He warned that the winter would be “incredibly severe”.

“There are signs of hope for the future, but now we are paying the price for those 10 years of austerity, for falling behind on Covid, for not addressing these issues.

“So this winter is going to be incredibly hard, there’s nothing we can do about it. But the strike action adds to an already challenging situation,” he said.

But he also urged people not to delay seeking treatment. “It’s really not in anyone’s interest if people don’t come forward.”

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 10:30 am

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Start Christmas travel plans “as soon as you can”, travel experts warn

Families are being urged to get their Christmas travel plans in motion “as soon as possible” as a four-day motorway strike, set to coincide with a new wave of rail cancellations, threatens travel chaos over the festive period.

National Highways staff will strike from today until Christmas in the latest phase of strike action by the country’s biggest civil servants union ahead of the Christmas weekend.

Simon Calder of The Independent urged families to hit the roads as soon as possible, telling Good Morning Britain: “I’ve never seen a Christmas like this for travel stress.

He added: “It will get very very tricky towards the end of the week and into Christmas as the roads will be very busy.

“And the railways, well, services will end either on Friday night or quite early on Saturday.”

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 10:25 am

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Hospitals are bracing for ‘surge in demand for emergency care’ after leaving

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospitals were prepared for “increased demand for emergency care” as a secondary effect of the ambulance and nursing strikes.

She told Times Radio that there was a “very difficult picture” in the health and care system, with social care “extremely stressed” and a “deeply challenging” situation in the NHS.

She urged ministers to negotiate pay with unions – something Health Secretary Steve Barclay has so far ruled out.

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 10:00 am

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National Highways will strike from Thursday until Christmas

National Highways staff are set to strike from today until Christmas as the winter of discontent continues to snowball.

This latest phase of industrial action by the biggest civil servant union was launched by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) working as road workers and operatives at a regional operations center in London and South East England.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We are aware that our actions are likely to cause inconvenience to commuters, but although we are escalating it before Christmas, we are reminding people that this dispute can be resolved today if the Government puts more money on the table .

“Our members tell us they have to cut back on their spending at Christmas because they’re running out of money. They were offered below-inflation pay at a time when inflation was higher than 10 percent.

Emily Atkinson December 22, 2022 9:30 am

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Society should always consider responsible use of the NHS, says health chief

Matthew Taylor of the NHS Confederation said the public should always consider how to use the NHS responsibly.

It came as politicians and NHS staff urged the public to take extra care, avoid risky behavior and limit…