January and February rail strikes: Nationwide train disruption on its way as Aslef plan weeks of walk-outs

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Nationwide rail strikes have entered their third 12 months, with a sequence of “rolling” walk-outs deliberate to disrupt the journeys of tens of millions of passengers throughout England in late January and early February.

Train drivers belonging to Aslef will cease work region-by-region over the course of every week between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February. Thousands of trains are prone to be cancelled on every day.

The impact will probably be exacerbated by a nine-day ban on extra time working from 29 January to six February.

The strikes are designed to trigger most disruption over an prolonged spell, however with train drivers every shedding solely in the future’s pay. It mirrors the rolling industrial motion at first of December 2023. The schedule is:

In phrases of sheer quantity of passengers hit, Monday 29 January would be the most disruptive. It is aimed toward commuters in southeast England, the bulk of whom use the affected train operators.

Intercity travellers will probably be worst affected on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, when the primary operators on the East Coast and West Coast major strains, as effectively as the Midland mainline, will probably be hit.

Sunday 4 February can be prone to be severely disrupted as a result of of the ban on rest-day working.

Aslef says no train operator “employs enough drivers to provide the service they promise passengers and businesses they will deliver without asking drivers to work their days off”.

ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (together with the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail and “open-access” operators such as Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo aren’t concerned.

The results could also be lowered if the transport secretary, Mark Harper, makes use of new laws to impose “minimum service levels” (MSLs).

The Department for Transport (DfT) says: “The minimum service level is to provide the train operation services necessary to operate the equivalent of 40 per cent of the timetabled services during the strike period.”

But the Transport Select Committee has warned of doable dangers.

The Conservative chair of the committee, Iain Stewart, stated final month: “The government has signalled its intention to implement MSLs as soon as possible.

“There is a risk of MSLs worsening worker-employer relations and that, as a result, MSLs could end up making services less reliable.”

The train drivers’ union has been in dispute with 14 train operators, together with all of the main commuter and intercity firms, for the reason that summer time of 2022.

Aslef is demanding a no-strings pay enhance adopted by negotiations at a neighborhood stage to modernise working practices – which can come at a further worth to the employers.

The train operators, who’re represented by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), say even a modest pay enhance is contingent on far-reaching reforms.

Any deal will probably be signed off by the DfT. Taxpayers will foot the invoice. Ticket income is about one-fifth down on pre-Covid ranges. The public subsidy to maintain the railway working is presently £16,300 per minute – £4,000 greater than earlier than the pandemic.

The union says it has had no talks with Mark Harper, the transport secretary, since 2022; with Huw Merriman, the rail minister, since January 2023; and with the employers since April 2023.

Aslef’s normal secretary, Mick Whelan, stated: “We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it has now been a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport. It’s clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.

“Many of our members have now not had a single penny increase to their pay in half a decade, during which inflation soared and with it the cost of living.

“Train drivers didn’t even ask for an increase during the Covid-19 pandemic when they worked throughout as key workers, risking their lives to allow NHS and other workers to travel.

“The government has now tried their old trick of changing the rules when they can’t win and brought in minimum service levels legislation. But this new law, as we told officials during the consultation period, won’t ease industrial strife. It will likely just make it worse.

“There’s no excuse. The government and train operating companies must come to the table with a realistic offer so we can end this dispute and work together to ensure the future of our railways.”

The Independent has requested the RDG and the DfT for responses. After the newest emphatic votes by Aslef members for additional industrial motion, a spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group stated: “Strikes called by the Aslef leadership continue to result in huge disruption for our customers, staff and the hospitality industry.

“Our priority is finding a fair and affordable way through this dispute, so we can end the disruption to our passengers, give our people a pay rise and return the industry to a sustainable footing at a time when taxpayers are contributing an extra £54m a week to keep services running post-Covid.

“We have always been clear that we remain open to constructive dialogue with Aslef to find a resolution, and that is still the case.”