Important information about train strikes in January and February: A complete guide to the disruptions.

The ongoing disagreement between Aslef, a union for train drivers, and 14 train companies in England has been occurring for three years.

The union has declared its initial strikes for 2024 as there seems to be no resolution in the ongoing and contentious dispute regarding salaries and work schedules.

Aslef members who operate trains will go on a week-long strike, with work stoppages taking place in different regions from January 30th to February 5th. It is anticipated that numerous train services will be suspended each day.

The impact will be worsened by a nine-day restriction on working extra hours starting from January 29th to February 6th, and an extra five-day protest specifically on LNER from February 5th to 9th.

These are the important inquiries and responses.

Aslef is currently in conflict with the train companies that have been contracted by the government to offer railway services. They include:

Intercity operators:

London commuter operators:

Operators with a focus on the Midlands and northern regions of England.

The following train companies are not participating in the strike: ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (including the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail, and “open-access” operators like Grand Central, Hull Trains, and Lumo. However, their services may experience high levels of crowding in areas where they overlap with the companies on strike.

On Monday, January 29th, the overtime ban will commence.

On Tuesday, January 30th, South Western Railway, Southeastern, and GTR (Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, and Thameslink) will all be operating.

On Wednesday, January 31st, there will be trains running on the Northern and TransPennine Express lines.

On Thursday, February 1st, there will be no strike, but the overtime ban will still be in effect.

On Friday, February 2nd, there will be strikes on Greater Anglia, C2C and LNER (with an extra strike scheduled for the following week).

On Saturday, February 3rd, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, and East Midlands Railway will be operating.

On Sunday, February 4th, there will be no strike, but the ban on overtime will still be in effect.

Starting on Monday 5 February, Great Western, CrossCountry, and Chiltern trains will be affected by a strike by LNER employees. This strike will continue until 9 February.

On Tuesday, February 6th, there will be no strike, but the overtime ban will continue for one more day.

From Wednesday, February 7 to Friday, February 9, the LNER strike will persist with the train drivers also implementing an overtime restriction.

The last day of the LNER overtime ban is Saturday, February 10th.

Using the previous rolling strikes as a basis, the anticipated outcomes are as follows – without any intervention from the transport secretary, Mark Harper, to implement a “minimum service level”. A new law now grants him the authority to specify a minimum of 40% service on strike days.

These are forecasts made by The Independent after observing past strikes, and should be verified with each railway company.

On January 30th, there will be no trains running on the Great Northern line.

On January 30th, there will be no trains running on the Thameslink route.

On January 30th, there will be no train service on the southeastern route.

On January 30th, Southern will only have a nonstop shuttle service running between London Victoria and Gatwick airport from 6am to 11:30pm. All other train services will be unavailable.

On January 30th, the Gatwick Express service will not be running. However, the Southern airport shuttle will still be available for transportation.

On January 30th, South Western Railway will have a main service that includes up to four trains per hour traveling between London Waterloo and Woking. One train per hour will also go to Guildford and Basingstoke. Additionally, there will be a shuttle running from Basingstoke to Salisbury. Trains will also operate between Waterloo and Feltham via Richmond and Twickenham. There will not be any trains running on the Isle of Wight.

On January 31st, there will be no train services.

There will be no train services by TransPennine Express on January 31st.

On February 2nd, there will be no train service.

On February 2nd, Greater Anglia will have a reduced schedule for trains traveling between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Southend Victoria, Cambridge, and Stansted airport.

From February 2nd to 9th, LNER will have regular trains running on main routes connecting London King’s Cross with Leeds, York, Newcastle, and Edinburgh.

On February 3rd, there will be no train services provided by Avanti West Coast. The operator has stated that service disruptions may also occur on the days leading up to and following the strike.

On February 3rd, East Midlands Railway announced that there will be no train services. This is a repeat of their previous warning for passengers to refrain from travel as there will be no alternative bus services available.

There will be no train service on West Midlands Railway on February 3rd.

There will be no trains running on February 5th in Chiltern.

There will be no train service on CrossCountry on February 5th.

On February 5th, Great Western Railway will have a main route operating from London Paddington to Oxford, Bath, and Bristol, as well as a connecting route from Bristol to Cardiff. There will also be a limited service on smaller lines in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance will be suspended for several nights. The Heathrow Express will also experience disruptions, with a reduced schedule from 7am to 7pm.

Aside from the disturbance during strike days, train schedules on neighboring days may also be impacted. These days are expected to experience high passenger volume as people adjust their travel plans to avoid the industrial action.

Monday 29 January is expected to cause the most disruption, as it will affect a large number of commuters in southeast England who primarily use the affected train operators.

On February 2 and 3, Friday and Saturday, travelers between cities will experience the most disruption. This is due to the major train companies on the East Coast, West Coast, and Midland main lines being affected.

The ban on rest-day working and planned engineering work on the West Coast main line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, as well as on the East Coast main line between London King’s Cross and Stevenage, will likely cause significant disruptions on Sunday, February 4th.

The minimum requirements for service do not pertain to union restrictions on working on non-contracted rest days.

According to Aslef, the overtime ban will result in numerous cancellations as train operators do not have sufficient drivers to fulfill their commitments to passengers and businesses without requiring them to work on their scheduled days off.

Passengers were advised of potential last-minute changes and cancellations of trains during the Aslef overtime ban from December 1 to 9, 2023.

Multiple train companies have declared proactive cancellations in anticipation of the previous overtime restriction, outlined as:

Weekend train services have been significantly decreased and there are also fewer trains operating on weekdays.

Chiltern has implemented significant service reductions on majority of its routes, and some branch lines have no trains running at all. Additionally, all routes will have earlier-than-usual ending times for their services.

There will be no trains running on the Gatwick Express during the overtime ban. Instead, Southern trains will be operating between London Victoria and Gatwick airport during the industrial action.

The London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway will have closures on the branch lines connecting Bletchley to Bedford, Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa to Nuneaton, on most or all days.

The revised schedule will have fewer services and may have delayed start and early end times.

Thameslink issued a warning that there will be a modified schedule with reduced frequency.

Many trains were cancelled on the first day, such as South Western Railway from London Waterloo to Southampton, Great Western Railway from London Paddington to Weston-super-Mare via Bristol and Carmarthen via Cardiff and Swansea, and TransPennine Express links from Manchester and Newcastle to Edinburgh. Additionally, several Manchester-Leeds-Hull services were affected.

A few train companies still do not include Sunday as part of the work week, which means that the ban on resting on Sundays will cause major disruptions on February 4th.

Certain train stations may limit passengers from boarding or departing in order to prevent overcrowding.

These are forecasts made using previous occurrences as a basis.

Throughout the entire duration of the Elizabeth Line and Tube operations, London Heathrow was continuously accessible.

On Tuesday, January 30th, the first day of strikes, travelers at London Gatwick will experience major disruptions as all Gatwick and Thameslink train services are expected to stop. However, passengers traveling between London, Gatwick, and Brighton can still expect a decent amount of trains.

On Tuesday, December 5th, London Stansted only had a basic service once an hour from the capital city. The rest of the days during the overtime ban had changes to their services.

Luton airport will remain accessible by rail, at least from London, on all days: on the Thameslink strike day, 30 January. the East Midlands Railway link will be running; conversely on 3 February, when no East Midlands Railway services are likely to run, Thameslink will be operating.

On Saturday, February 3rd, it is probable that Birmingham airport will not be reachable by train, except for those taking Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Street station.

On Wednesday, January 31st, it is expected that Manchester airport will not be easily reachable by train. However, there will be an hourly connection via Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester, and North Wales.

On days when there is a strike, it may be challenging to make connecting journeys between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. However, regular train service will still be available. This may be especially difficult on Tuesday, January 30 when Thameslink and Southeastern trains are not running, and on Saturday, February 3 when there will likely be no East Midlands Railway services.

In the most recent issue of the Aslef Journal, Mick Whelan, the general secretary, informed members that train drivers are tired and annoyed with their employers’ lack of sincere negotiations. He stated that the employers proposed a plan through the Rail Delivery Group, despite knowing it would be rejected.

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“Aslef members, essential workers who played a vital role in keeping our country functioning during the pandemic, are requesting a just and reasonable agreement.”

“We have not had a meeting with Mark Harper, the secretary of transportation, since December 2022. Similarly, we have not had a meeting with Huw Merriman, the minister of rail, since January. Additionally, we have not received any communication from the employers since April.”

We have consistently stated our willingness to negotiate, but it is important for the government and TOCs to recognize that this disagreement cannot be resolved by pressuring our members to accept unfavorable terms and conditions of employment.

During the five-day strike by LNER, Mr Whelan stated that they have provided LNER management and the government with ample chances to negotiate, but they have not presented a reasonable offer to their members. He urged the rail companies to engage in discussions and collaborate to find a resolution to the conflict so that the railway can resume operations smoothly.

A representative from Rail Delivery Group stated that no one benefits from strikes that disrupt people’s lives and income. These strikes are especially hard to justify when taxpayers are already contributing an additional £54 million per week to maintain post-Covid services.

“Although the railway is facing significant financial difficulties, drivers have been presented with an opportunity to earn a base salary of almost £65,000 for working a four-day week without overtime. This is considerably higher than the national average and more than what many of our passengers, who do not have the ability to work from home, are paid.”

Rather than initiating further harmful measures, we urge the Aslef leaders to collaborate with us in finding a solution to this conflict and reaching a fair agreement that benefits our employees and implements necessary changes to improve the reliability of our services.

A representative from the Department for Transport expressed disappointment in Aslef’s continued targeting of commuters, students, and those with essential medical appointments who rely on train travel.

“Aslf is now the only rail union that is continuing to strike while refusing to put a fair and reasonable offer to its members. The offer that remains on the table and would bring the average train driver’s salary up to £65,000.

The leaders of Aslef should act in accordance with what is morally correct and allow their members to make their own choices about their future, rather than making decisions on their behalf.

The Labour Party’s shadow minister for rail, MP Stephen Morgan, stated: “We will return our railways to public ownership as contracts expire and prioritize services that benefit the passengers.”

LNER, currently dealing with additional industrial action, is already under public ownership.

Source: independent.co.uk