3 walkouts to hit trains in f irst week of October

RAILWAYS around Scotland will be brought to a standstill for the first two weekends in October due to strike action.

There will now be three walkouts in the first eight days of the month.

RMT have said 40,000 of its members at Network Rail and 15 train operators nationwide would strike on October 8. They have already announced a 24hour strike on October 1 in a row over job security, pay and working conditions.

Train drivers’ union Aslef also said workers from 12 firms would walk out on October 1 and 5 over their pay dispute. The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association is also understood to have served notice that hundreds of its members will strike on October 1.

Among the companies set to be impacted are Avanti West Coast, Cross Country, LNER and Trans Pennine Express, which will affect trains running between Scotland and England.

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.’