The airlines can hardly believe their luck. British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair have seen sales for their links between London and Edinburgh thrive over the past three summers since regular rail strikes began in 2022.
More passengers were encouraged to move from trains to planes when former prime minister Rishi Sunak halved the tax on domestic flights – making rail relatively more expensive.
Airline bosses may have expected the tide to change following the rail pay deal on Wednesday between the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, and the train drivers’ union, Aslef. Union members are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour of a 15 per cent wage rise, covering three years.
Yet less than 48 hours after that national agreement was reached, Aslef announced 22 more strike dates. Train drivers will walk out on LNER, the main operator on the flagship East Coast main line, every weekend from 31 August to 10 November 2024.
Anyone who needs certainty on strike days must either try to find seats on the budget rail operator Lumo or the slower West Coast route; go by road; or head for the airport.
Rail is enduring an existential crisis – as the new transport secretary, Louise Haigh, acknowledged when she talked to The Independent in July.
“Our transport system is broken,” she said. But Ms Haigh insisted that re-nationalising train operators would create “a publicly owned railway that works for everyone and puts passengers first”.
Yet to find out what is going wrong at LNER, she need look no further than her own officials.
LNER is one of several train operators that are run by the Department for Transport (DfT). Others state-owned rail firms include TransPennine Express, which is running a reduced service for a full year, and Northern, which repeatedly warns passengers about the risks of trying to travel by rail in northwest England on a Sunday. Its train drivers are not compelled to work on the Sabbath.
Rail is in a spiral of decline. Revenue has failed to recover since the pandemic. Many former commuters are enjoying much-improved lifestyles with no need to board the 8.08am from Woking to London Waterloo five days a week. Season-ticket revenue has collapsed. What the rail industry desperately needs: new passengers, lured from road or air by the prospect of reliable and affordable trains.
On ticket prices: Labour has promised “a best fare…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…