3 walkouts to hit trains in first week of October

THE first week of Octo- ber will spell misery for rail passengers after the RMT union announced another strike.

There will be three walkouts in the first eight days of the month. The RMT said 40,000 of its members at Network Rail and 15 train operators nationwide would strike on October 8.

The RMT has already announced a 24-hour strike on October 1 in a row over job security, pay and working conditions. Train drivers’ union Aslef said workers from 12 firms would walk out on October 1 and 5 in their pay dispute.

And the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) is also understood to have served notice that hundreds of its members will strike on October 1.

It comes as unions end their moratorium on strike action after the death of the Queen. The combined action means virtually no trains will run before the Tory party conference begins in Birmingham on October 2. The strikes will also affect those travelling for the London Marathon.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesman said the strike would ‘ hit sports fans, friends and families... and the RMT members themselves who have already lost, at the very least, many hundreds of pounds’ due to strikes since June. He added: ‘Rather than staging more counterproductive action that will further alienate the very customers we need to secure the longterm future of the industry, the RMT leadership should commit to serious reform.’

A Network Rail spokesman said: ‘We’ll be asking people to only travel if absolutely necessary due to the reduced service.’ It will publish timetables for strike days in due course.