Rail passengers face a week of travel chaos because of strikes and other forms of industrial action in bitter, long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport union) and ASLEF (The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) members are walking out. ASLEF represents drivers, whereas the RMT represents workers from many different sectors of the rail industry - including station staff and guards.
Aslef members at 16 train operators in England walked out on Saturday and will strike again tomorrow (October 4), coinciding with the annual conference of the Conservative Party in Manchester. Many parts of the country will have no services on strike days, and those that do run will start later and finish earlier than usual. Operators warning of no services include Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern, Southeastern and Transpennine Express.
Drivers banned overtime on Friday and are refusing to work rest days again this week (Monday, October 2 to Friday, October 3), causing disruption. The union said train companies have always failed to employ enough drivers to provide a proper service.
Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary, said the Government was preventing a settlement to the year-long dispute. He said: "Our members have not had a pay rise for four years - since 2019 - and that's not right when prices have soared in that time. Train drivers, perfectly reasonably, want to be able to buy now what they could buy four years ago."
He accused Transport Secretary Mark Harper of "hiding", saying the two had not met since last December despite a series of strikes this year which have caused huge disruption.
A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group said: "Our offer to Aslef would take average driver salaries to £65,000 for a four-day week - that's more than double the average UK salary and many drivers top up their income further by working overtime. We are ready and willing to talk to Aslef's leaders so we can end this damaging dispute but any talks about pay also need to address working practices that date back decades.
"The industry depends on a monthly injection of up to £175 million from the taxpayer because revenues are still 30% below pre-pandemic levels - while simultaneously facing unprecedented changes in customer travel patterns. It is obvious that the sector can only fund a pay rise by changing how it delivers services so it can respond to that transformation in how the public use the railway.
"That means putting managers - rather than unions - in charge of planning shifts. It means allowing managers to respond to unexpected staff absences so they can reduce the last-minute cancellations that so frustrate our customers. It means giving our customers more reliable train services when they actually want to use them - particularly on Sundays. That is how any industry survives and thrives."
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "The Government spent £31 billion of taxpayers' money - £1,000 per household - to protect rail workers' jobs during the pandemic. There is a fair and reasonable offer on the table that would take train drivers salaries from £60,000 to £65,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week. Aslef's leaders won't put this offer to their members and instead continue to strike - damaging their own industry in the process."
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) on London Underground will strike on October 4 and 6 in a separate row over jobs and conditions which will cause disruption across the Tube network. London Underground said most services will be severely affected or will not run on strike days, with disruption the morning after the walkouts.
Director of customer operations Nick Dent said: "We have been in ongoing discussions with our unions for some time to reach a resolution in the dispute over changes we are proposing to how our stations operate. We have made positive steps and made agreements on many points, but this planned strike action will cause disruption for Londoners and the city if it goes ahead and we apologise for this."
An RMT spokesperson said: "It is positive that Transport for London have agreed with RMT that their cuts have had a detrimental impact on our members and the service we provide. However, we still have a long way to go to agree on solutions to these problems. We remain in talks with management to try and make further progress."
Full list of affected services
- Underground - tube services will be "severely affected" or not run at all on Wednesday (October 4) and Friday (October 6). There will also be no night tube on Friday. Disruption is expected before 8am after strikes on October 5 and 7. The Elizabeth Line, London Overground and tram services are not affected.
- Avanti West Coast - no services on Wednesday (October 4). Avanti plans to run normal timetable during overtime bans.
- C2C - no services on Wednesday (October 4). On days when overtime bans are in place there will be a reduced peak time service, with two trains per hour during off-peak times.
- Chiltern Railways - no services on Wednesday (October 4). Chiltern will run amended timetable during overtime bans.
- CrossCountry - no services on Wednesday (October 4). Some services will be amended during overtime ban dates.
- East Midlands Railway - no services on Wednesday (October 4). East Midlands says journey planners show days when overtime ban is in place.
- GTR - no Thameslink, Great Northern or Gatwick Express services on Wednesday (October 4). Limited Southern shuttle service, calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only. Services on Thursday (October 5) to begin much later than normal, including some routes with none until after 7am. On overtime ban days, GTR has an amended timetable with fewer services running. The non-stop Gatwick Express service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton will not run.
- Great Western Railway - reduced and revised timetable on Wednesday (October 4). Services that go ahead will start from 7.30am and all journeys must be completed by 6.30pm.
- Greater Anglia and Stansted Express - reduced services expected to run on both strike and overtime ban days.
- Heathrow Express - fewer trains will be going to Heathrow Airport tomorrow (October 4) and will start later and finish earlier. Trains will run between Paddington and Heathrow between 7.40am and 6.25pm. Services between Terminal 5 and Paddington will run between 7.42am and 6.57pm. And there will be trains between 7.47am and 7.02pm from Heathrow Central into Paddington. The Elizabeth Line will service customers travelling from London to Heathrow. Heathrow has not announced any changes during overtime bans.
- LNER - services will run on 'extremely limited timetable' on Wednesday (October 4), with minor alterations on days before and after.
- London Northwestern Railway - no service on Wednesday (October 4). Buses in place of trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey on overtime ban days.
- Northern - no service on Wednesday (October 4) and no rail replacement bus services. Overtime ban days likely to cause short notice alterations and cancellations.
- Southwestern Railway - extremely limited service on a small number of lines. No service on the Island Line.
- Southeastern - no service on any routes during strike days but company expects to run full service during overtime ban periods.
- TransPennine - no service on Wednesday (October 4). No early morning and late evening alterations on days before or after strike day.
- TransPennine Express - plans to run normal timetable during overtime ban days.
- West Midlands Railway - no service on Wednesday (October 4). Reduced train services to operate on overtime ban days, with reduced train services between Birmingham New Street and Hereford and Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury. A bus service will replace trains between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa via Coventry. Overtime ban days could see amended timetables and on-the-day cancellations.