Train drivers to hold first of three rail strikes in England this week
Passengers are bracing for the first of three rail strikes this week as services in England come to a standstill amid a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will embark on a 24-hour strike on Wednesday. The union also plans to strike on Saturday.
On these days, no trains will run on networks including Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Northern, Southern, Southeastern, Thameslink and Northern.
Separately, about 20,000 onboard crew and station staff who are members of the RMT plan to take industrial action on Friday. That strike will disrupt services, but many operators will still run some trains.
The latest stoppages are likely to affect parents and children on the half-term break and passengers trying to travel to big events on Saturday, including the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley and a date of Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The strike comes after Aslef rejected a pay rise offer of 4% a year over two years from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the train operating companies.
The transport minister Huw Merriman has urged Aslef and the RMT to put the government’s “fair and reasonable” pay offer to their members.
The RMT called the pay deal from the RDG “unacceptable” and said no further proposals had been put forward for them to consider.
The union’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “The government is once again not allowing the Rail Delivery Group to make an improved offer that we can consider. Therefore, we have to pursue our industrial campaign to win a negotiated settlement on jobs, pay and conditions. Ministers cannot just wish this dispute away.”
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