New strikes set to bring more rail travel misery

RAIL passengers face a week of travel chaos because of strikes and other forms of industrial action in bitter, long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of the drivers union Aslef at 16 train operators in England will strike on Saturday and Wednesday, coinciding with the annual conference of the Conservative Party in Manchester.

Many parts of the country will have no services on strike days, and those that do run will start later and finish earlier than usual.

Operators warning of no services include Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern, Southeastern and Transpennine Express.

Drivers banned overtime yesterday and will refuse to work rest days again next week, from October 2 to 6, which is expected to cause disruption. The union said train companies have always failed to employ enough drivers to provide a proper service.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said that the Government was preventing a settlement to the year-long dispute. He said: “Our members have not had a pay rise for four years - since 2019 and that’s not right when prices have soared in that time. Train drivers, perfectly reasonably, want to be able to buy now what they could buy four years ago.”

He accused Transport Secretary Mark Harper of “hiding”, saying the two had not met since last December despite a series of strikes this year which have caused huge disruption. “He holds the purse strings. The train operating companies have told us they cannot act without his say-so. He’s the puppet master, but he’s in hiding.”