Train strike 2024: Everything we need about January and February disruption

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The dispute between the prepare drivers’ union, Aslef, and 14 prepare 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 introduced 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 likely be cancelled on every day.

The impact is exacerbated by a nine-day ban on time beyond regulation operating from 29 January to six February.

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

He advised 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 advised 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.

These are the key questions and answers.

Which rail firms are affected?

Aslef is in dispute with the train operators that are contracted by the government to provide rail services. They are:

Intercity operators:

Southeast England commuter operators:

Operators focusing on the Midlands and north of England:

ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (including the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail and “open-access” operators resembling Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo are usually not concerned. But their providers are prone to be extraordinarily crowded on stretches the place they duplicate strike-hit corporations.

What is the strike schedule?

Monday 29 January: time beyond regulation 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 time beyond regulation 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 time beyond regulation ban continues.

Monday 5 February: Great Western, CrossNation and Chiltern.

Tuesday 6 February: no strike however time beyond regulation ban continues for a last day.

What are the possible results of the strikes?

These predictions are primarily based on newest statements from rail companies and The Independent’s statement of earlier strikes. They needs to be confirmed earlier than journey.

Great Northern (30 January): Shuttle service calling at London Kings Cross and Cambridge solely (and most likely 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 likely 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 prepare 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 likely 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 may 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 prepare 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 prepare operator depends on drivers working time beyond regulation on Sunday to function any trains in any respect. The time beyond regulation 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 lot of nights. The Heathrow Express can be prone to be affected, with a lowered service between 7am and 7pm solely.

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

What about the brand new minimal service ranges regulation?

Legislation now permits the transport secretary to stipulate minimal service ranges (MSLs) on strike days amounting to 40 per cent of the traditional service.

As far as The Independent is conscious, no prepare operator is in search of to impose the brand new regulation on the prepare drivers’ union. LNER stated it’d accomplish that, at which level Aslef referred to as a separate five-day strike on LNER alone. Then the prepare operator stated it will not require drivers to work, and the strike was referred to as off.

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 stage 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 geared toward commuters in southeast England, the vast majority of whom use the affected prepare operators. Normally Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern, South Western Railway and Southeastern carry round 40 per cent of all passengers.

Intercity travellers will likely be worst affected on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, when the primary operators on the East Coast and West Coast principal traces, plus the Midland mainline, will likely be hit.

Sunday 4 February can be prone 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 because of the time beyond regulation ban.

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

What would be the wider affect of the time beyond regulation ban?

The time beyond regulation ban alone will trigger 1000’s of cancellations. Aslef says no prepare 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 remains to be not a part of the working week at a lot of prepare operators, so 4 February will likely be notably 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.”

The normal warning to passengers over the past Aslef time beyond regulation ban from 1 to 9 December 2023: “Trains are subject to short notice alterations and cancellations.”

Several rail companies introduced pre-emptive cancellations for the earlier time beyond regulation ban, as follows:

C2C: “Severely reduced service” at weekends, with many trains additionally minimize 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 through the time beyond regulation 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 likely 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 could prohibit both boarding or leaving trains at sure stations to keep away from overcrowding.

What if I need to succeed in an airport?

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

Passengers utilizing London Gatwick will likely 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 be capable of journey on a Southern shuttle service, nonstop between Victoria and the airport.

London Stansted may have an hourly skeleton service from the capital on Tuesday 5 December, with “service alterations” on all the opposite days of the time beyond regulation ban.

Luton airport will stay accessible by rail, not less than from London, on all days: on the Thameslink strike day, 30 January, Thameslink may have a lowered service from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway. In addition, the East Midlands Railway hyperlink will likely be operating.On 3 February, when no East Midlands Railway providers are prone to run, Thameslink will likely be working.

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

Manchester airport is prone to be inaccessible by rail on Wednesday 31 January, apart from an hourly hyperlink on Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester and North Wales.

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 likely be tough on strike days – notably Tuesday 30 January, when Thameslink and Southeastern are out, and on Saturday 3 February when no East Midlands Railway providers are prone to run.

What does Aslef say?

In an unique interview with The Independent, Aslef normal 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 companies say?

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, representing the prepare 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 will 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.”