Train strike 2024: All you need to know about disruption in February and March

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The dispute between the practice drivers’ union, Aslef, and 14 practice operators in England is into its third calendar yr.

With no settlement in sight to the lengthy and bitter row over pay and working preparations, the union has begun its first strikes for 2024.

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

The impact is exacerbated by a nine-day ban on additional time operating from 29 January to 6 February.

Mick Whelan, basic secretary of Aslef, says some members haven’t had a pay rise for 5 years – and ministers have refused to have interaction with the union for a yr.

He instructed The Independent: “Any industrial action is incredibly damaging, but after 18 months out on strike, and after a year with no one in the government or the [train operating] companies talking to us, we are forced to raise the profile of our issues.”

Rail minister Huw Merriman instructed The Independent: “Strikes just hold the railway back. We believe a fair and reasonable offer is there on the table for Aslef if they put it to their members.

“These are train drivers that paid an average £60,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week, That pay deal would take them up to £65,000.

“We hope that they will take the opportunity to take it. Then we can all talk about the positives of rail.”

Separately, the 14 practice operators have reached a tentative settlement with the RMT union that has put an finish to walk-outs whereas talks proceed on an area degree. But the RMT has referred to as two 48-hour strikes in February and March on the London Overground.

These are the important thing questions and solutions.

Which rail corporations are affected?

Aslef is in dispute with the practice operators which can be contracted by the federal government to present rail providers. They are:

Intercity operators:

Southeast England commuter operators:

Operators specializing in the Midlands and north of England:

ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (together with the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail and “open-access” operators comparable to Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo aren’t concerned. But their providers are seemingly to be extraordinarily crowded on stretches the place they duplicate strike-hit corporations.

What is the strike schedule?

Monday 29 January: additional time ban begins.

Tuesday 30 January: South Western Railway, Southeastern and GTR (Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern and Thameslink).

Wednesday 31 January: Northern and TransPennine Express.

Thursday 1 February: no strike however additional time ban continues.

Friday 2 February: Greater Anglia, C2C and LNER.

Saturday 3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway.

Sunday 4 February: no strike however additional time ban continues.

Monday 5 February: Great Western, CrossNation and Chiltern.

Tuesday 6 February: no strike however additional time ban continues for a closing day.

What are the seemingly results of the strikes?

These predictions are primarily based on newest statements from rail corporations and The Independent’s commentary of earlier strikes. They must be confirmed earlier than journey.

Great Northern (30 January): Shuttle service calling at London Kings Cross and Cambridge solely (and in all probability branded Thameslink) with restricted working hours.

Thameslink (30 January): Shuttle service calling at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway and Luton solely. The agency says its trains “will be extremely busy” and that queueing programs will probably be in place.

“You may not be able to board your chosen service,” says Thameslink. “If you are planning to travel on one of the last trains of the day, please be aware that, depending on the size of the queue, you may not be able to board a service at all, and no alternative transport options will be provided after the last train departs. Please plan ahead and leave plenty of time to reach your destination.”

Southern (30 January): No trains besides a nonstop shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick airport, from 6am to 11.30pm.

Gatwick Express (30 January): The Southern airport shuttle, above, is doing the work.

Southeastern (30 January): No trains.

South Western Railway (30 January): The service is comparatively intensive in contrast with different practice operators.

Northern (31 January): No trains. The operator says that it expects two key routes to be very busy on 3 February when East Midlands Railway is on strike: Leeds-Sheffield-Nottingham and Sheffield-Manchester.

TransPennine Express (31 January): No trains. “There will be some alterations to evening services on Tuesday 30 January and to early morning services on Thursday 1 February,” the corporate says.

C2C (2 February): No trains. The firm warns: “Upminster car park will likely become full and close early in the day.” Upminster is the japanese finish of the District Line of the London Underground, which will probably be operating usually.

Greater Anglia (2 February): Limited service linking London Liverpool Street with Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester; Southend Victoria; Cambridge; and Stansted airport.

LNER (2 February): Regular trains on core routes linking London King’s Cross with Doncaster, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh. First trains will depart at round 8am, with most journeys completed by 7pm. Leeds can have a restricted direct service, however connections can be found from Doncaster.

Avanti West Coast (3 February): No trains. The operator says: “Services on the days either side of the strike will also be affected.”

East Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains. The practice agency warns: “No rail replacement bus services will be provided. Other train operators may be running a reduced service due to an overtime ban.”

West Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains, and a warning that providers on Sunday 4 February will see widespread delays and cancellations.

Chiltern (5 February): No trains both on the strike day or on the day before today, Sunday 4 February, because the practice operator relies on drivers working additional time on Sunday to function any trains in any respect. The additional time ban means no providers will run.

CrossNation (5 February): No trains.

Great Western Railway (5 February): On the precise strike day, a core service will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bath and Bristol, with a hyperlink from Bristol to Cardiff. A restricted service on department traces in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance won’t run for a variety of nights.

In addition to the disruption on strike days, trains on adjoining days could also be affected. Services on nowadays are additionally seemingly to be extraordinarily busy due to passengers shifting their journeys to keep away from industrial motion.

What about the brand new minimal service ranges legislation?

Legislation now permits the transport secretary to stipulate minimal service ranges (MSLs) on strike days amounting to 40 per cent of the traditional service. The authorities says the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 goals “to ensure that the public can continue to access services that they rely on, during strike action.”

No practice operator is in search of to impose the brand new legislation on the practice drivers’ union. LNER stated it would accomplish that, and opened consultations, at which level Aslef referred to as a separate five-day strike on LNER alone. Then the practice operator stated it could not require drivers to work, and the strike was referred to as off.

The BBC stories that the prime minister is disillusioned that practice operators had not carried out minimal service ranges. A Downing Street spokesperson stated: “Yes, it’s something that we and the public expect them to use.

“We’ve been repeatedly been clear that this legislation is available for train operators to use.”

The Transport Select Committee has beforehand warned of potential unintended penalties of the laws. The Conservative chair, Iain Stewart, stated: “There is a risk of MSLs worsening worker-employer relations and that, as a result, MSLs could end up making services less reliable.”

The minimal service degree guidelines don’t apply to union bans on non-contractual rest-day working.

Is there a ‘worst day’?

Yes. In phrases of sheer variety of passengers hit, Tuesday 30 January is essentially the most disruptive. It is aimed toward commuters in southeast England, the vast majority of whom use the affected practice operators. Normally Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern, South Western Railway and Southeastern carry round 40 per cent of all passengers.

Intercity travellers will probably be worst affected on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, when the principle operators on the East Coast and West Coast predominant traces, plus the Midland predominant line, will probably be hit.

Sunday 4 February can also be seemingly to be severely disrupted primarily due to the ban on rest-day working. Chiltern Railway, which might usually run trains between London and Birmingham, says no providers will run in any respect due to the additional time ban.

Disruption will probably be heightened by deliberate engineering work between Birmingham and Wolverhampton on the West Coast predominant line and between London King’s Cross and Stevenage on the East Coast predominant line.

What would be the wider affect of the additional time ban?

The additional time ban alone will trigger hundreds of cancellations. Aslef says no practice operator “employs enough drivers to provide the service they promise passengers and businesses they will deliver without asking drivers to work their days off”.

Sunday continues to be not a part of the working week at a variety of practice operators, so 4 February will probably be significantly disrupted by the ban on rest-day working.

GWR says: “There will be significant disruption to services and customers should travel on alternative days. No trains will operate on long-distance routes between London Paddington and Bristol, South Wales and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.”

Several rail corporations have introduced pre-emptive cancellations due to the earlier additional time ban, as follows:

C2C: “Severely reduced service” at weekends, with many trains additionally lower on weekdays.

Chiltern: Significantly lowered service on most routes, with no trains in any respect on some department traces. “Services on all routes will finish earlier than usual.” No trains will run on Sunday 4 February.

Gatwick Express: No trains throughout the additional time ban. Southern trains will hyperlink London Victoria and Gatwick airport all through the economic motion.

London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway: Branch traces between Bletchley and Bedford, Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa and Nuneaton, will probably be closed on most or all days.

Southern: “An amended timetable with fewer services will run. Services may start later and finish earlier than usual.”

Thameslink warns: “A reduced frequency amended timetable will be in operation.”

Some trains might limit both boarding or leaving trains at sure stations to keep away from overcrowding.

What if I need to attain an airport?

London Heathrow will stay accessible always on the Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth Line and the Tube.

Passengers utilizing London Gatwick will probably be considerably affected on the primary day of strikes, Tuesday 30 January, when no Gatwick Express nor Thameslink trains will run. But passengers between London and Gatwick will probably be ready to journey on a Southern shuttle service, nonstop between Victoria and the airport. The GWR hyperlink from Gatwick to Redhill, Guildford and Reading will run usually on 30 January however not on 5 February.

London Stansted can have an hourly skeleton service from the capital on Tuesday 2 February, with “service alterations” on all the opposite days of the additional time ban. The hyperlink to Norwich will probably be axed on 2 February, however CrossNation trains to Cambridge (and on to Birmingham) will nonetheless run. On 5 February, although, no CrossNation trains will run to Stansted airport or anyplace else.

Luton airport will stay accessible by rail, at the very least from London, on all days: on the Thameslink strike day, 30 January, Thameslink can have a lowered service from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway. In addition, the East Midlands Railway hyperlink will probably be operating. On 3 February, when no East Midlands Railway providers are seemingly to run, Thameslink will probably be working.

Southend airport: hourly trains on Friday 2 February with restricted hours.

Southampton airport won’t be served by South Western Railway on Tuesday 30 January nor by CrossNation on Monday 5 February.

Manchester airport can have a drastically lowered rail service on Wednesday 31 January. With Northern and TransPennine Express drivers on strike, there will probably be solely an hourly hyperlink on Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester and North Wales.

Birmingham airport is probably going to be inaccessible by rail on Saturday 3 February, apart from Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Street.

Will Eurostar be affected?

No. Trains will proceed to run as regular between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. But connecting journeys will probably be troublesome on strike days – significantly Tuesday 30 January, when Thameslink and Southeastern are out, and on Saturday 3 February when no East Midlands Railway providers are seemingly to run.

What does Aslef say?

In an unique interview with The Independent, Aslef basic secretary Mick Whelan stated: “When we get to February, it’ll be half a decade without a pay rise. What do we do? Do we do nothing?

“The only thing that is going to get us out of this is a clean deal.”

Without an settlement, he says: “It’s going to get messier. It’s going to get worse.”

What do the rail corporations say?

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, representing the practice operators, stated: “There are no winners from these strikes that will unfortunately cause disruption for our customers. We believe rail can have a bright future, but right now taxpayers are contributing an extra £54m a week to keep services running post-Covid.

“Aslef’s leadership need to recognise the financial challenge facing rail. Drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly £65,000 for a four-day week before overtime – that is well above the national average and significantly more than many of our customers that have no option to work from home are paid.

“Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on the Aslef leadership to work with us to resolve this dispute and deliver a fair deal which both rewards our people, and makes the changes needed to make services more reliable.”What does the federal government say?

What does the federal government say?

A Department for Transport spokesperson stated: “It’s very disappointing to see Aslef continuing to target those who travel to work, school or important medical appointments by train.

“Aslef is now the only rail union that is continuing to strike while refusing to put a fair and reasonable offer to its members. The offer that remains on the table and would bring the average train driver’s salary up to £65,000.

“The Aslef leadership should do the right thing and let their members decide their own future, instead of deciding it for them.”

What does the Labour Party say it could do if elected?

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, stated: “It is a staggering dereliction of duty that the transport secretary hasn’t got around the table with the unions to try to resolve it since the Christmas before last.

“Labour will take an unashamedly different approach to the Tories, and will work with both sides to reach a deal in the interests of passengers and workers. If the transport secretary took this sensible approach then perhaps we wouldn’t still be having strikes on our railways.”

The shadow rail minister, Stephen Morgan MP, has beforehand stated: “Labour will bring our railways back into public ownership, as contracts expire, and ensure services work in the interests of the passenger.”

What are the London Overground strikes about?

Pay. More than 300 members of the RMT will stage two 48-hour walkouts on the London Overground on Mondays and Tuesdays two weeks aside: 19-20 February 2024 and 4-5 March 2024. Among these taking motion are safety, station, income and management employees.

The RMT stated that Arriva Rail London, which has the contract for London Overground, has provided a under inflation pay supply.

Mick Lynch, basic secretary of the RMT, stated: “If this dispute cannot be resolved then RMT is more than prepared for a sustained period of industrial action to get London Overground workers the pay rise they deserve.”

The Independent has contacted the Department for Transport and Arriva Rail London for remark.