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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 dealing preparations, the union has begun its first strikes for 2024.
Practice drivers belonging to Aslef are stopping work region-by-region over the course of per week between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February. 1000’s of trains shall be cancelled on every day.
The impact is exacerbated by a nine-day ban on extra time working from 29 January to six February.
Mick Whelan, basic 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 Impartial: “Any industrial motion is extremely damaging, however after 18 months out on strike, and after a yr with nobody within the authorities or the [train operating] firms speaking to us, we’re pressured to lift the profile of our points.”
Rail minister Huw Merriman instructed The Impartial: “Strikes simply maintain the railway again. We consider a good and affordable 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 as much as £65,000.
“We hope that they’ll take the chance to take it. Then we will all speak in regards to the positives of rail.”
Individually, 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 an area stage. However the RMT has known 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 can be contracted by the federal government to supply rail companies. They’re:
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 usually are not concerned. However their companies are prone to be extraordinarily crowded on stretches the place they duplicate strike-hit firms.
What’s the strike schedule?
Monday 29 January: extra time ban begins.
Tuesday 30 January: South Western Railway, Southeastern and GTR (Southern, Gatwick Categorical, Nice Northern and Thameslink).
Wednesday 31 January: Northern and TransPennine Categorical.
Thursday 1 February: no strike however extra time ban continues.
Friday 2 February: Higher Anglia, C2C and LNER.
Saturday 3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway.
Sunday 4 February: no strike however extra time ban continues.
Monday 5 February: Nice Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern.
Tuesday 6 February: no strike however extra time 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 Impartial’s statement of earlier strikes. They need to be confirmed earlier than journey.
Nice Northern (30 January): Shuttle service calling at London Kings Cross and Cambridge solely (and doubtless 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 “shall be extraordinarily busy” and that queueing techniques shall be in place.
“You might not have the ability to board your chosen service,” says Thameslink. “If you’re planning to journey on one of many final trains of the day, please bear in mind that, relying on the scale of the queue, you could not have the ability to board a service in any respect, and no various transport choices shall be offered after the final prepare departs. Please plan forward and depart loads of time to achieve your vacation spot.”
Southern (30 January): No trains besides a nonstop shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick airport, from 6am to 11.30pm.
Gatwick Categorical (30 January): The Southern airport shuttle, above, is doing the work.
Southeastern (30 January): No trains.
South Western Railway (30 January): The service is comparatively intensive in contrast with different prepare 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 Categorical (31 January): No trains. “There shall be some alterations to night companies on Tuesday 30 January and to early morning companies on Thursday 1 February,” the corporate says.
C2C (2 February): No trains. The corporate warns: “Upminster automobile park will probably turn into full and shut early within the day.” Upminster is the japanese finish of the District Line of the London Underground, which shall be working usually.
Higher Anglia (2 February): Restricted service linking London Liverpool Road with Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester; Southend Victoria; Cambridge; and Stansted airport.
LNER (2 February): Common 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: “Companies on the times both facet of the strike will even be affected.”
East Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains. The prepare agency warns: “No rail substitute bus companies shall be offered. Different prepare operators could also be working a lowered service because of an extra time ban.”
West Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains, and a warning that companies 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 extra time on Sunday to function any trains in any respect. The extra time ban means no companies will run.
CrossCountry (5 February): No trains.
Nice Western Railway (5 February): On the precise strike day, a core service will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bathtub and Bristol, with a hyperlink from Bristol to Cardiff. A restricted service on department strains in Devon and Cornwall. The Evening Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance is not going to run for a variety of nights.
Along with the disruption on strike days, trains on adjoining days could also be affected. Companies on nowadays are additionally prone to be extraordinarily busy because of passengers transferring their journeys to keep away from industrial motion.
What in regards to the new minimal service ranges regulation?
Laws now permits the transport secretary to stipulate minimal service ranges (MSLs) on strike days amounting to 40 per cent of the conventional service. The federal government says the Strikes (Minimal Service Ranges) Act 2023 goals “to make sure that the general public can proceed to entry companies that they depend on, throughout strike motion.”
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 known as a separate five-day strike on LNER alone. Then the prepare operator stated it will not require drivers to work, and the strike was known as off.
The BBC stories that the prime minister is disenchanted that prepare operators had not applied minimal service ranges. A Downing Road spokesperson stated: “Sure, it’s one thing that we and the general public anticipate them to make use of.
“We’ve been repeatedly been clear that this laws is obtainable for prepare operators to make use of.”
The Transport Choose Committee has beforehand warned of potential unintended penalties of the laws. The Conservative chair, Iain Stewart, stated: “There’s a threat of MSLs worsening worker-employer relations and that, in consequence, MSLs might find yourself making companies much less dependable.”
The minimal service stage guidelines don’t apply to union bans on non-contractual rest-day working.
Is there a ‘worst day’?
Sure. When it comes to sheer variety of passengers hit, Tuesday 30 January is probably the most disruptive. It’s aimed toward commuters in southeast England, the vast majority of whom use the affected prepare operators. Usually Southern, Thameslink, Nice 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 important strains, plus the Midland important line, shall be hit.
Sunday 4 February can also be prone 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 companies will run in any respect as a result of extra time ban.
Disruption shall be heightened by deliberate engineering work between Birmingham and Wolverhampton on the West Coast important line and between London King’s Cross and Stevenage on the East Coast important line.
What would be the wider impression of the extra time ban?
The extra time ban alone will trigger hundreds of cancellations. Aslef says no prepare operator “employs sufficient drivers to supply the service they promise passengers and companies they’ll ship with out asking drivers to work their days off”.
Sunday continues to be not a part of the working week at a variety of prepare operators, so 4 February shall be significantly disrupted by the ban on rest-day working.
GWR says: “There shall be vital disruption to companies and clients ought to journey on various days. No trains will function on long-distance routes between London Paddington and Bristol, South Wales and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.”
A number of rail companies have introduced pre-emptive cancellations as a result of earlier extra time ban, as follows:
C2C: “Severely lowered service” at weekends, with many trains additionally minimize on weekdays.
Chiltern: Considerably lowered service on most routes, with no trains in any respect on some department strains. “Companies on all routes will end sooner than normal.” No trains will run on Sunday 4 February.
Gatwick Categorical: No trains throughout the extra time ban. Southern trains will hyperlink London Victoria and Gatwick airport all through the commercial motion.
London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway: Department 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 companies will run. Companies could begin later and end sooner than normal.”
Thameslink warns: “A lowered frequency amended timetable shall be in operation.”
Some trains could limit both boarding or leaving trains at sure stations to keep away from overcrowding.
What if I want to achieve an airport?
London Heathrow will stay accessible always on the Heathrow Categorical, 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 Categorical nor Thameslink trains will run. However passengers between London and Gatwick will have the ability to journey on a Southern shuttle service, nonstop between Victoria and the airport. The GWR hyperlink from Gatwick to Redhill, Guildford and Studying 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 extra time ban. The hyperlink to Norwich shall be axed on 2 February, however CrossCountry trains to Cambridge (and on to Birmingham) will nonetheless run. On 5 February, although, no CrossCountry trains will run to Stansted airport or wherever else.
Luton airport will stay accessible by rail, not less than 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. As well as, the East Midlands Railway hyperlink shall be working. On 3 February, when no East Midlands Railway companies are prone to run, Thameslink shall be working.
Southend airport: hourly trains on Friday 2 February with restricted hours.
Southampton airport is not going to be served by South Western Railway on Tuesday 30 January nor by CrossCountry on Monday 5 February.
Manchester airport may have a drastically lowered rail service on Wednesday 31 January. With Northern and TransPennine Categorical drivers on strike, there shall be solely an hourly hyperlink on Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester and North Wales.
Birmingham airport is prone to be inaccessible by rail on Saturday 3 February, aside from Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Road.
Will Eurostar be affected?
No. Trains will proceed to run as regular between London St Pancras Worldwide and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. However connecting journeys shall be tough on strike days – significantly Tuesday 30 January, when Thameslink and Southeastern are out, and on Saturday 3 February when no East Midlands Railway companies are prone to run.
What does Aslef say?
In an unique interview with The Impartial, Aslef basic secretary Mick Whelan stated: “Once we get to February, it’ll be half a decade with no pay rise. What will we do? Will we do nothing?
“The one factor that’s going to get us out of this can be a clear deal.”
With out an settlement, he says: “It’s going to get messier. It’s going to worsen.”
What do the rail companies say?
A spokesperson for Rail Supply Group, representing the prepare operators, stated: “There aren’t any winners from these strikes that may sadly trigger disruption for our clients. We consider rail can have a shiny future, however proper now taxpayers are contributing an additional £54m per week to maintain companies working post-Covid.
“Aslef’s management must recognise the monetary problem going through rail. Drivers have been made a proposal which might take base salaries to almost £65,000 for a four-day week earlier than extra time – that’s effectively above the nationwide common and considerably greater than lots of our clients that don’t have any choice to make money working from home are paid.
“As a substitute 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 companies extra dependable.”What does the federal government say?
What does the federal government say?
A Division for Transport spokesperson stated: “It’s very disappointing to see Aslef persevering with to focus on those that journey to work, college or vital medical appointments by prepare.
“Aslef is now the one rail union that’s persevering with to strike whereas refusing to place a good and affordable supply to its members. The supply that is still on the desk and would carry the common prepare driver’s wage as much as £65,000.
“The Aslef management ought to do the best factor and let their members determine their very own future, as an alternative of deciding it for them.”
What does the Labour Social gathering say it will do if elected?
Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, stated: “It’s a staggering dereliction of obligation that the transport secretary hasn’t received across the desk with the unions to attempt to resolve it because the Christmas earlier than final.
“Labour will take an unashamedly totally different strategy to the Tories, and can work with each side to achieve a deal within the pursuits of passengers and employees. If the transport secretary took this smart strategy then maybe we wouldn’t nonetheless be having strikes on our railways.”
The shadow rail minister, Stephen Morgan MP, has beforehand stated: “Labour will carry our railways again into public possession, as contracts expire, and guarantee companies work within the pursuits of the passenger.”
What are the London Overground strikes about?
Pay. Greater 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. Amongst these taking motion are safety, station, income and management employees.
The RMT stated that Arriva Rail London, which has the contract for London Overground, has supplied a beneath inflation pay supply.
Mick Lynch, basic secretary of the RMT, stated: “If this dispute can’t be resolved then RMT is greater than ready for a sustained interval of commercial motion to get London Overground employees the pay rise they deserve.”
The Impartial has contacted the Division for Transport and Arriva Rail London for remark.
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