Important information about the train strikes in January and February: What you should know about the resulting disruptions.

The disagreement between the labor union for train conductors, Aslef, and 14 train companies in England has been ongoing for three years.

The union has declared their first strikes for 2024 as a resolution to the ongoing dispute over wages and job conditions has not been reached.

Aslef train operators will engage in a series of regionally-based work stoppages from Tuesday, January 30th to Monday, February 5th. It is expected that numerous train services will be disrupted each day.

The impact will be worsened by a nine-day restriction on working overtime, starting from 29 January to 6 February.

However, a distinct strike lasting five days organized by Aslef and targeted at LNER, scheduled for February 5-9, has been cancelled. A representative for the train company stated, “We are pleased to hear that the potential for prolonged disruption to our services has been eliminated.”

“We urge Aslef to collaborate with us in finding a resolution to this ongoing conflict that is causing harm to the railway industry.”

These are the main inquiries and responses.

Aslef is currently in conflict with the train operating companies that have been contracted by the government to deliver rail services. These companies include:

Intercity operators:

Operators of commuter services in Southeast England

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

Train companies like ScotRail, Transport for Wales, and Transport for London (including the Elizabeth Line) as well as open-access operators like Grand Central, Hull Trains, and Lumo will not be affected by the strike. However, their trains may still be very crowded, especially on routes where they overlap with the companies on strike.

Starting from Monday, January 29th, there will be a ban on overtime.

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

On January 31st, the train services for Northern and TransPennine Express will be operational.

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

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

On Monday, February 5th, Great Western, CrossCountry, and Chiltern will be operating. Starting on the same day and running until February 9th, LNER will be on strike.

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

These forecasts rely on the most recent announcements from railroad companies and The Independent’s review of past strikes. It is advisable to verify them before embarking on your trip.

On January 30th, Great Northern will offer shuttle service to London Kings Cross and Cambridge. The service may be branded as Thameslink and will have limited operating hours.

On January 30th, Thameslink will operate a shuttle service to St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, and Luton stations only. The company warns that trains will be crowded and queueing systems will be implemented.

According to Thameslink, you may encounter difficulty boarding your desired transportation service. If you intend to travel on one of the final trains of the day, please consider that you may not be able to board at all due to the potential length of the line. Additionally, there will be no other transportation options available after the last train departs. It is advisable to plan ahead and allow ample time to arrive at your destination.

On January 30th, there will be no train service in the southeastern region.

On January 30, there will be no train services operating except for a direct shuttle between London Victoria and Gatwick airport. This service will be available from 6am to 11:30pm.

On January 30th, the Gatwick Express will be providing transportation to and from the Southern airport.

On January 30th, South Western Railway offers a wide range of services.

On January 31st, there will be no train services running. The operator has announced that they anticipate high volume on two main routes on February 3rd due to a strike by East Midlands Railway: Leeds-Sheffield-Nottingham and Sheffield-Manchester.

TransPennine Express has announced that there will be no trains running on January 31st. However, there will be changes to evening services on January 30th and to early morning services on February 1st, according to the company.

On February 2nd, there will be no train service for C2C. The company has issued a warning that the car park at Upminster, the eastern terminus of the District Line on the London Underground, is expected to reach capacity and close early in the day. However, the District Line will still be operating as usual.

On February 2nd, Greater Anglia will have a restricted schedule connecting London Liverpool Street to Norwich, Ipswich, and Colchester, as well as Southend Victoria, Cambridge, and Stansted airport.

On February 2nd, LNER will have regularly scheduled trains running on main routes connecting London King’s Cross to Doncaster, York, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. The first trains will leave around 8am and most journeys will end by 7pm. There will be a limited direct service to Leeds, but travelers can make connections at Doncaster.

On February 3rd, Avanti West Coast will not have any trains running. The operator has stated that services on the days before and after the strike will also experience disruptions.

On February 3rd, East Midlands Railway has announced that there will be no trains running. The company has also stated that they will not be offering any replacement bus services and other train operators may also have a limited schedule due to an overtime restriction.

On February 3rd, West Midlands Railway will not be running any trains. Additionally, there is a caution that on Sunday, February 4th, there will be significant delays and cancellations for their services.

On February 5th, there will be no trains running due to a strike. This will also affect the previous day, February 4th, as the train operator relies on drivers working overtime on Sundays to run any trains. The ban on overtime means that there will be no train services operating.

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

On February 5th, Great Western Railway announced that there will be limited service on the strike day. Trains will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bath and Bristol, with a connection from Bristol to Cardiff. However, there will be a limited service on branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance will not operate for several nights. The Heathrow Express will also be impacted, with a reduced service only between 7am and 7pm.

Aside from the disruptions during strike days, trains on surrounding days may also experience delays. These services are expected to be very crowded as travelers adjust their plans to avoid the effects of the strike.

According to new laws, the secretary of transportation has the power to determine the minimum level of service that must be provided on days when there is a strike. This minimum level of service must be equivalent to at least 40% of the regular service.

To the best of The Independent’s knowledge, no train company is attempting to enforce the new legislation on the union representing train drivers.

The previous warning from the Transport Select Committee highlighted potential unintended outcomes of the law. Iain Stewart, the Conservative chair, stated that there is a potential for MSLs (mobile service locations) to negatively impact relations between workers and employers, ultimately leading to a decrease in service reliability.

Monday 29 January is expected to have the greatest impact in terms of the number of passengers affected. This will primarily affect commuters in southeast England, the majority of whom rely on the affected train services.

On February 2 and 3, Friday and Saturday, intercity travelers will face the most severe impact. The East Coast and West Coast main lines, along with the Midland mainline, will be affected by the strikes from major operators.

Sunday, February 4th will likely experience significant disruptions due to the prohibition of work on rest days and scheduled engineering work between Birmingham and Wolverhampton on the West Coast main line, as well as between London King’s Cross and Stevenage on the East Coast main line.

The usual train operations between London and Birmingham by Chiltern Railway will not be available due to an overtime restriction.

The minimum requirements for service levels do not pertain to union restrictions on working on non-contractual days off.

Aslef reported that the overtime ban will result in numerous cancellations. They stated that train operators do not have sufficient drivers to fulfill their promises to passengers and businesses without requiring them to work on their designated days off.

Some train operators do not include Sunday as part of their working week, so the ban on rest-day working on February 4th will cause significant disruptions.

According to GWR, there will be major disruptions to services and customers are advised to travel on different days. Trains will not be running on long-distance routes between London Paddington and Bristol, South Wales, and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.

During the recent Aslef overtime ban from December 1st to 9th, 2023, passengers were warned that trains may be changed or cancelled at short notice.

Multiple railway companies have declared proactive cancellations in response to the prior overtime restriction, as listed below:

On weekends, there will be a significant decrease in train services and even on weekdays, there will be a reduction in the number of trains running.

Chiltern: Most routes will experience a significant decrease in service, and some branch lines will have no trains running. Trains on all routes will end earlier than usual.

Due to the overtime ban, there will be no Gatwick Express trains running. However, Southern trains will still be operating between London Victoria and Gatwick airport during the industrial action.

The branch lines connecting Bletchley to Bedford, Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa to Nuneaton will be closed on the majority or all days by London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway.

The schedule will be modified to have less services. There may be delays in the start and end times of services.

Thameslink cautions: “There will be a modified timetable with reduced frequency in effect.”

Certain stations may limit boarding or disembarking from trains in order to prevent overcrowding.

The Elizabeth Line and the Tube will provide continuous access to London Heathrow.

On Tuesday, January 30th, passengers traveling through London Gatwick will experience major disruptions due to strikes. There will be no Gatwick Express or Thameslink train services available. However, there will still be a considerable amount of trains running between London and Gatwick throughout the day.

On Tuesday, December 5th, London Stansted will have a limited service from the city, and there will be changes to the service on all other days during the overtime ban.

Luton airport will still be reachable by train, specifically from London, every day. On January 30th, during the Thameslink strike, there will be fewer trains running from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway. However, the East Midlands Railway connection will still be in operation. On February 3rd, when there are no East Midlands Railway services expected to run, Thameslink will be running as usual.

On Saturday, February 3, Birmingham airport will most likely not be reachable by train, except for Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Street.

On Wednesday, January 31st, the only way to access Manchester airport by train will be through an hourly link provided by Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester, and North Wales.

There will be no changes to train schedules for trips between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. However, it may be challenging to make connections on days when there are strikes, especially on Tuesday, January 30th when Thameslink and Southeastern services will not be available, and on Saturday, February 3rd when there will likely be no East Midlands Railway services running.

During a recent interview with The Independent, Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, expressed that any form of industrial action can be very harmful. However, due to 18 months of being on strike and a year of no communication from the government or train operating companies, we feel the need to bring attention to our concerns.

“In February, it will mark five years without a salary increase. What options do we have? Should we take no action?”

The only solution to this problem is a fair agreement.

He predicts that without a consensus, the situation will deteriorate and become more chaotic.

A representative from the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, stated that the strikes will cause inconvenience for our customers and there are no benefits for anyone involved. They believe that the future of rail is promising, but currently the government is providing an additional £54m per week to maintain services after the pandemic.

The leaders of Aslef must acknowledge the financial difficulties that the rail industry is facing. They have presented drivers with an offer that would increase their base salaries to almost £65,000 for a four-day work week, not including overtime. This amount is considerably higher than the national average and much more than what many of our customers, who do not have the option to work from home, are paid.

The government is urging the Aslef leadership to collaborate with them in finding a solution to the ongoing dispute, rather than resorting to further harmful industrial action. They are seeking a fair agreement that will benefit their employees and improve the reliability of services.

A representative of the Department for Transport expressed disappointment in Aslef’s ongoing targeting of train travelers commuting to work, school, or crucial medical appointments.

Aslef is currently the sole rail union that persists in striking without presenting a just and sensible proposal to its members. The proposal that is still available would increase the average train driver’s salary to £65,000.

“Aslef’s leadership should allow their members to determine their own future rather than making the decision for them.”

Stephen Morgan MP, the opposition’s minister for rail, stated that as contracts come to an end, the Labour party intends to nationalize the railways and prioritize the needs of passengers.

Source: independent.co.uk