Rail passengers across Britain are preparing for another round of strikes. On Saturday, train drivers belonging to the Aslef union and working for nine train operators will stop work.
Next week, it’s the turn of around 40,000 members of the RMT union to walk out, bringing many rail services across the UK to a halt.
But passengers on the West Coast main line will see a much more sustained reduction in trains – with Avanti West Coast bringing in an emergency timetable cutting hundreds of services every day. At the same time, people trying to book trains online are seeing they are indicated as “sold out”.
So what’s going on? These are the key questions and answers.
What are the schedule cuts?
Starting on Sunday rail services linking London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England and southern Scotland will be sharply cut back.
The biggest reductions are on services linking Birmingham and Manchester with London – reduced by two-thirds, with one train each hour rather than three. There will also be cuts to Chester and North Wales, and from London via the West Midlands to Edinburgh.
Why is this happening?
Avanti West Coast says: “This is due to the current industrial relations climate, resulting in severe staff shortages through increased sickness, as well as unofficial strike action by Aslef members.
“As a result of the majority of drivers making themselves unavailable for overtime in a co-ordinated fashion, and at short notice, our customers have faced multiple short-notice cancellations which has had a severe impact on their plans.”
Typically Avanti West Coast relies on 250 drivers per day working on their rest days – covering around 400 passenger trains. The number of volunteers was consistent.
But sources say that literally overnight, the number of drivers working rest days dropped dramatically – by almost 90 per cent.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, wrote in a tweet: “Unions now stopping drivers volunteering – causing misery for public & staff who won’t get paid.”
Avanti West Coast says it wants to “ensure a reliable service is delivered so our customers can travel with greater certainty” – though it recognises that the emergency timetable will cause “enormous frustration and inconvenience”.
What does the train drivers’ union have to say?
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, says there is an overwhelming mandate for industrial action on Avanti West Coast (with an official strike on Saturday.
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