The busiest summer holiday getaway since 2019 is under way – but families hoping to travel by train are facing thousands of cancellations as national rail strikes resume.
The RMT union says 20,000 members working for train operators in England have walked out in the long and bitter dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), representing train operators, says: “In some areas only around half of train services will run, while others will have no services at all.” Few trains will run after 7pm.
Talks between the rail firms and the union have been deadlocked since April, when the RMT rejected a pay offer worth 4 per cent in each of 2022 and 2023 – subject to reforms in working practices. The deal was not put to members. Since then, the train operators have announced plans to close almost all station ticket offices at English stations.
The union’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “I am proud of our members for showing such fortitude and resolve in this long running dispute.
“The recent attack on ticket offices and the threat to de-staff our railways has galvanised a huge groundswell of public support which we are grateful for.
“Our members and our union will not be cowed by rail bosses or government ministers and our dispute will continue until we can reach a negotiated settlement.”
But as The Independent reports, the leader of Britain’s second largest rail union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) has accused the RMT of putting jobs at risk by pushing ahead with its walk-outs.
The TSSA’s general secretary, Peter Pendle, said: “Because of the line that our colleagues are taking, the deal – which was a good deal – has been swept away and all these changes are being imposed.”
Thursday’s 24-hour walk-out coincides with the fourth day in the latest overtime ban by train drivers belonging to Aslef. The union is involved in a similar dispute on pay and conditions.
The last day of the Aslef ban on rest-day working is Friday; on Saturday 22 July, RMT members walk out again for 24 hours.
On the London Underground, a strike called by the RMT is likely to shut down almost all of the Tube network between Sunday 23 July and Friday 28 July.
The final day of the RMT national rail action is scheduled for Saturday 29 July, with some effects continuing to the following day. And on…
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