England is set to be hit by the next series of national rail strikes, with family travel likely to be affected during the second part of half-term holidays at most schools.
Both of the main rail unions have called walk-outs during the break, which runs to 4 June.
On Wednesday 31 May and Saturday 3 June, train drivers belonging to Aslef will stop work at more than a dozen operators, including all the key long-distance and commuter rail firms.
The RMT has called a strike by members working at 14 train operators on Friday 2 June.
Services will be disrupted from late on Tuesday 30 May to the morning of Sunday 4 June.
The 3 June drivers’ walk-out coincides with the FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Manchester City, which will be staged at Wembley in northwest London.
Normally tens of thousands of fans would be travelling by rail to the match. It will also affect racegoers travelling to Epsom Derby.
Since June 2022, national rail strikes in a tangle of disputes about pay, job security and working arrangements have caused problems for tens of millions of train passengers. Stoppages have been called frequently, causing massive disruption and making advance travel planning difficult.
The main rail union, the RMT, has staged walk-outs on 24 days in the current wave of strikes, with Aslef stopping work on eight previous occasions.
These are the key questions and answers.
Who is striking and when?
Aslef has instructed all its train driver members working for 16 train operators to strike on Wednesday 31 May and Saturday 3 June.
The train firms are those contracted by the Department for Transport. They include the leading intercity operators:
- Avanti West Coast
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Great Western Railway
- LNER
- TransPennine Express
The vast majority of London commuter operators will also be hit:
- Greater Anglia
- GTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink)
- Southeastern
- South Western Railway
Operators focusing on the Midlands and north of England will be affected:
- Chiltern Railways
- Northern Trains
- West Midlands Trains
There will also be a ban on “non-contractual overtime” on Thursday 1 June.
The RMT union has called its members out on strike on Friday 2 June. The same train operators will be involved – with the addition of c2c, which runs from the City of London to south Essex.
What will the effect be?
On many of the previous strikes…
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