THREAT OF SUMMER RAIL STRIKE CHAOS

THE threat of summer disruption on the railways increased today after engin ee r s wo rk i n g fo r Ne t wo r k Ra i l announced a ballot for strike action.

Union bosses forecast overwhelming support for the strike call when the result is announced on August 15.

By law there must be seven days’ notice of any industrial action, meaning the first walkouts could be over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The increasingly bitter dispute follows a warning, revealed in the Evening Standard last week, of summer disruption on Eurostar services in a separate row over working conditions.

The threat of further strikes at commuter giant Southern has not been ruled out . Unions are opposed to changes to the role of train guards, reduced ticket office staffing and opening hours — measures parent company Govia Thameslink Railway says it will introduce later next month.

The NR dispute involves more than 250 key senior maintenance engineers who are on call 24/7. They are demanding an increase in payments for out of hours on-call standby duties.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA, second largest of the transport unions, said: “Our members do a very important job, often attending incidents in the middle of the night but they do not receive the proper reward for their professionalism.

“Their importance to keeping the network running 24/7 is huge and we want some recognition for that from management.”

He warned if “last ditch” talks scheduled for later this week break down “a dispute looks inevitable with all the disruption that will follow.”

The Eurostar dispute follows a claim by UK train crews that their French colleagues are taking all the prime shifts on the holiday routes from Paris to Avignon and Marseille.

Of 55 RMT train crew managers, 52 have already voted in favour of strike action — more train managers belonging to the TSSA are currently in the process of a strike ballot with the result yet to be declared. An announcement of strike dates has been held off pending the TSSA result.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “It is hugely disappointing that the union have rejected our offer. We encourage them to continue discussions so we can reach a solution which is fair to our staff as well as those who help fund Britain’s railway. We have put forward proposals which address all the material issues raised by the TSSA within the funding available to us.”