Train strike 2024: All you need to know about disruption in February and March

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 begun its first strikes for 2024.

Train drivers belonging to Aslef are stopping work region-by-region over the course of every week between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February. Thousands of trains shall be cancelled on every day.

The impact is exacerbated by a nine-day ban on time beyond regulation operating from 29 January to 6 February.

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

He instructed 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 instructed The Independent: “Strikes simply maintain the railway again. We imagine a good and cheap supply is there on the desk for Aslef in the event that they put it to their members.

“These are prepare drivers that paid a median £60,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week, That pay deal would take them up to £65,000.

“We hope that they’ll take the chance to take it. Then we are able to all speak about the positives of rail.”

Separately, the 14 prepare operators have reached a tentative settlement with the RMT union that has put an finish to walk-outs whereas talks proceed on a neighborhood degree. But the RMT has referred to as two 48-hour strikes in February and March on the London Overground.

These are the important thing questions and solutions.

Which rail companies are affected?

Aslef is in dispute with the prepare operators which might be contracted by the federal government to present rail providers. They are:

Intercity operators:

Southeast England commuter operators:

Operators specializing in the Midlands and north of England:

ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (together with the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail and “open-access” operators similar to Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo will not be concerned. But their providers are probably 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 probably results of the strikes?

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

Great Northern (30 January): Shuttle service calling at London Kings Cross and Cambridge solely (and in all probability 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 shall 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 relatively extensive compared with other train 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 jap finish of the District Line of the London Underground, which shall 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 prior to this, Sunday 4 February, because the prepare operator relies 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 link from Bristol to Cardiff. A restricted service on department strains in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance won’t run for quite a lot of nights.

In addition to the disruption on strike days, trains on adjoining days could also be affected. Services on lately are additionally probably to be extraordinarily busy due to 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 conventional service. The authorities says the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 goals “to ensure that the public can continue to access services that they rely on, during strike action.”

No prepare operator is searching for to impose the brand new regulation on the prepare drivers’ union. LNER stated it’d achieve this, and opened consultations, at which level Aslef referred to as a separate five-day strike on LNER alone. Then the prepare operator stated it might not require drivers to work, and the strike was referred to as off.

The BBC reports that the prime minister is disenchanted that prepare operators had not applied minimal service ranges. A Downing Street spokesperson stated: “Yes, it’s one thing that we and the general public anticipate them to use.

“We’ve been repeatedly been clear that this laws is obtainable for prepare operators to use.”

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 degree 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 probably 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 shall be worst affected on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, when the primary operators on the East Coast and West Coast primary strains, plus the Midland primary line, shall be hit.

Sunday 4 February can also be probably 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 due to the time beyond regulation ban.

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

What would be the wider impression 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 quite a lot of prepare operators, so 4 February shall 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.”

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

C2C: “Severely reduced service” at weekends, with many trains additionally reduce on weekdays.

Chiltern: Significantly lowered service on most routes, with no trains in any respect on some department strains. “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 link London Victoria and Gatwick airport all through the economic motion.

London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway: Branch strains between Bletchley and Bedford, Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa and Nuneaton, shall 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 attain an airport?

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

Passengers utilizing London Gatwick shall 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 shall be ready to journey on a Southern shuttle service, nonstop between Victoria and the airport. The GWR link from Gatwick to Redhill, Guildford and Reading will run usually on 30 January however not on 5 February.

London Stansted may have an hourly skeleton service from the capital on Tuesday 2 February, with “service alterations” on all the opposite days of the time beyond regulation ban. The link to Norwich shall be axed on 2 February, however CrossNation trains to Cambridge (and on to Birmingham) will nonetheless run. On 5 February, although, no CrossNation trains will run to Stansted airport or wherever else.

Luton airport will stay accessible by rail, at the very least 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 link shall be operating. On 3 February, when no East Midlands Railway providers are probably to run, Thameslink shall be working.

Southend airport: hourly trains on Friday 2 February with restricted hours.

Southampton airport won’t be served by South Western Railway on Tuesday 30 January nor by CrossNation on Monday 5 February.

Manchester airport may have a drastically lowered rail service on Wednesday 31 January. With Northern and TransPennine Express drivers on strike, there shall be solely an hourly link on Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester and North Wales.

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

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 shall 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 probably 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 with out a pay rise. What can we do? Do we do nothing?

“The solely factor that’s going to get us out of it is a clear 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 aren’t any winners from these strikes that can sadly trigger disruption for our clients. We imagine rail can have a vivid future, however proper now taxpayers are contributing an additional £54m every week to preserve providers operating post-Covid.

“Aslef’s management need to recognise the monetary problem going through rail. Drivers have been made a proposal which might take base salaries to practically £65,000 for a four-day week earlier than time beyond regulation – that’s nicely above the nationwide common and considerably greater than a lot of our clients that don’t have any choice to work at home are paid.

“Instead of staging extra damaging industrial motion, we name on the Aslef management to work with us to resolve this dispute and ship a good deal which each rewards our individuals, and makes the adjustments wanted to make providers extra dependable.”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 persevering with to goal those that journey to work, faculty or vital medical appointments by prepare.

“Aslef is now the one rail union that’s persevering with to strike whereas refusing to put a good and cheap supply to its members. The supply that continues to be on the desk and would carry the common prepare driver’s wage up to £65,000.

“The Aslef management ought to do the fitting factor and let their members resolve their very own future, as an alternative of deciding it for them.”

What does the Labour Party say it might do if elected?

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, stated: “It is a staggering dereliction of responsibility that the transport secretary hasn’t acquired across the desk with the unions to attempt to resolve it because the Christmas earlier than final.

“Labour will take an unashamedly totally different method to the Tories, and will work with either side to attain a deal in the pursuits of passengers and staff. If the transport secretary took this wise method then maybe we wouldn’t nonetheless 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.”

What are the London Overground strikes about?

Pay. More than 300 members of the RMT will stage two 48-hour walkouts on the London Overground on Mondays and Tuesdays two weeks aside: 19-20 February 2024 and 4-5 March 2024. Among these taking motion are safety, station, income and management workers.

The RMT stated that Arriva Rail London, which has the contract for London Overground, has supplied a beneath inflation pay supply.

Mick Lynch, normal secretary of the RMT, stated: “If this dispute cannot be resolved then RMT is more than prepared for a sustained period of industrial action to get London Overground workers the pay rise they deserve.”

The Independent has contacted the Department for Transport and Arriva Rail London for remark.