Everything you need to know about the train strike dates in January and February and how it may cause disruption.

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

The union has declared its initial strikes for 2024 due to the ongoing dispute over wages and working conditions with no resolution in sight.

Aslef train operators will go on strike in different regions throughout a week starting on Tuesday, January 30th and ending on Monday, February 5th. It is expected that numerous trains will not run on each day.

The impact will be intensified by a nine-day prohibition on working extra hours from January 29th to February 6th.

However, a distinct five-day strike organized by Aslef, targeting LNER from February 5 to 9, has been canceled. A representative from the train company stated, “We are pleased that the possibility of prolonged disruptions to our services has been eliminated.”

We urge Aslef to collaborate with us in order to resolve this ongoing disagreement, as it harms the railway industry.

Here are the main inquiries and responses.

Aslef is currently in disagreement with the train operators who have been contracted by the government to offer rail services.

Intercity operators:

Transport companies that serve commuters in Southeast England.

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

The companies affected by the strike, including ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (including the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail, and open-access operators like Grand Central, Hull Trains, and Lumo, are not participating. However, their services may still be heavily congested in areas where they overlap with the striking companies.

Starting on 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 Wednesday, January 31st, Northern and TransPennine Express will be in operation.

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

On Friday, February 2nd, there will be strikes on Greater Anglia, C2C, and LNER (which will also have another strike 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 overtime ban will remain in effect.

On Monday, February 5th, Great Western, CrossCountry, and Chiltern will be operating. The LNER strike will also begin on this day and will continue until February 9th.

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

These forecasts are derived from the most recent declarations from railway companies and The Independent’s assessment of past strikes. They should be verified prior to traveling.

On January 30th, the Great Northern will have a shuttle service that will only stop at London Kings Cross and Cambridge. It may be called Thameslink and will have restricted operating hours.

On January 30th, Thameslink will have a shuttle service that stops at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, and Luton. The company advises that their trains will have high capacity and they will have queuing systems in place.

Thameslink warns that you may not be able to board your desired train. If you are taking one of the last trains of the day, keep in mind that depending on the line’s length, you may not be able to board any train at all. Additionally, there will be no alternate transportation available after the final train leaves. To avoid any inconvenience, it is advised to plan your trip accordingly and allow ample time to reach your destination.

On January 30th, there will be no train service on the Southeastern line.

On January 30th, Southern will only be running a nonstop shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick airport from 6am to 11:30pm. There will be no other train services available.

On January 30th, the Gatwick Express, shown above, will be operating as the Southern airport shuttle.

On January 30th, South Western Railway offers a fairly comprehensive service.

On January 31st, there will be no trains running. The operator predicts high traffic on two main routes on February 3rd due to a strike by East Midlands Railway: Leeds-Sheffield-Nottingham and Sheffield-Manchester. On January 31st, TransPennine Express also announced that there will be no trains running. They have stated that there will be changes to evening services on January 30th and early morning services on February 1st.

On February 2nd, there will be no train service for C2C. The company cautions that the Upminster car park may reach full capacity and close earlier than usual. Upminster is the final stop on the eastern end of the District Line on the London Underground, which will operate as usual.

On 2 February, Greater Anglia will offer 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 frequent trains running on main routes between London King’s Cross and Doncaster, York, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. The first train will leave at approximately 8am and most trips will end by 7pm. There will be a limited direct service to Leeds, but travelers can make connections from Doncaster.

The train operator Avanti West Coast has announced that there will be no train services on February 3rd due to a strike. They have also stated that services on the days before and after the strike will also be impacted.

On February 3rd, East Midlands Railway has announced that there will be no train services available. The railway company has advised that there will be no substitute bus services offered. It is also possible that other train companies may have a limited schedule due to an overtime restriction.

On February 3rd, West Midlands Railway will not have any trains running. They have also issued a warning that their services on Sunday, February 4th will experience significant delays and cancellations.

On 5 February, there will be no trains running due to a strike. This also applies to Sunday 4 February, as the train operator relies on drivers working overtime to run any trains. The ban on overtime means that no services will be available.

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

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

Furthermore, not only will strike days cause disruptions, but trains on the days surrounding the strike may also experience delays. As a result, these services may be particularly crowded as passengers alter their travel plans to avoid the strike.

The new law gives the transportation secretary the authority to require a minimum level of service (MSL) on days when there is a strike, which must be at least 40% of the regular service.

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

The previous warning from the Transport Select Committee cautioned about possible unintended outcomes of the law. Iain Stewart, the chairperson of the Conservative party, stated that there is a potential for MSLs to have a negative impact on the relationship between workers and employers, leading to decreased reliability of services.

Yes. In terms of sheer number of passengers hit, Monday 29 January will be the most disruptive. It is aimed at commuters in southeast England, the majority of whom use the affected train operators.

On Friday, February 2 and Saturday, February 3, intercity travelers will face the greatest impact as the primary operators on the East Coast and West Coast main lines, along with the Midland mainline, will be impacted.

The upcoming Sunday, February 4th, may experience significant interruptions due to the prohibition of work on rest days and scheduled construction projects 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. Chiltern Railway, which typically operates trains between London and Birmingham, has announced that all services will be suspended due to the overtime ban.

The regulations for minimum service levels do not pertain to labor union prohibitions on working on days off without a contract.

As a result of the overtime ban, numerous cancellations are expected. Aslef claims that train operators do not have a sufficient number of drivers to fulfill their promise to passengers and businesses without requiring them to work on their days off.

Some train companies still do not consider Sunday as part of the regular work week, which means that the ban on working on rest days will have a major impact on February 4th.

GWR has announced that there will be major service disruptions and advises customers to consider traveling on different days. Trains will not be running on long-distance routes between London Paddington and Bristol, South Wales, and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.

Passengers were advised of potential changes and cancellations to train schedules during the Aslef overtime ban from December 1st to 9th, 2023.

Many train companies preemptively cancelled services in response to the previous overtime ban, as listed below:

On weekends, there will be a significant decrease in train services and there will also be reductions on weekdays.

Chiltern Railways is currently experiencing a significant decrease in service on many of its routes, and some branch lines are not operating any trains at all. The company has announced that all routes will have earlier than usual service finishes.

The Gatwick Express service will not be running during the overtime ban. Instead, Southern trains will connect London Victoria and Gatwick airport during the industrial action.

Most or all days, the branch lines connecting Bletchley and Bedford, Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa and Nuneaton will be out of service on London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway.

The schedule will be changed to have less services, possibly with delayed start times and earlier end times.

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

Certain stations may have restrictions on boarding or leaving trains in order to prevent overcrowding.

London Heathrow will always be reachable via the Elizabeth Line and the Tube.

On the initial day of strikes, Tuesday, January 30th, travelers utilizing London Gatwick will experience major disruptions as there will be no Gatwick Express or Thameslink trains running. However, those traveling between London and Gatwick can expect a decent amount of trains throughout the day.

On Tuesday, December 5th, London Stansted will only have an hourly basic service from the city. However, “service alterations” will be implemented on all other days during the overtime ban.

On all days, including the Thameslink strike day on January 30, there will still be rail access to Luton airport from London. However, the Thameslink service from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway will be reduced. The East Midlands Railway link will also be running. On February 3, when there are no expected East Midlands Railway services, Thameslink will be in operation.

On Saturday, February 3rd, it is expected that Birmingham airport will not be accessible by train, with the exception of Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Street.

On Wednesday, January 31st, Manchester airport will most likely not be reachable by train, except for a once-per-hour connection through Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester, and North Wales.

On strike days, specifically Tuesday, January 30th and Saturday, February 3rd, it may be difficult to make connecting journeys due to disruptions on Thameslink, Southeastern, and East Midlands Railway. However, trains between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam will still run as usual.

During a recent interview with The Independent, Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, expressed that any form of industrial action is highly detrimental. However, after being on strike for 18 months and receiving no communication from the government or train operating companies for a year, we have no choice but to bring attention to our concerns.

“When February arrives, it will mark five years without a salary increase. What actions should we take? Should we simply do nothing?”

The only solution to our problem is a fair agreement.

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

A representative from the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, expressed that the strikes will result in inconvenience for our customers and no one will benefit from them. We have hope for a promising future for rail, however, at this time, taxpayers are 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 currently facing. The proposed offer for drivers would result in a base salary of almost £65,000 for a four-day work week, which is considerably higher than the national average and more than what many of our customers, who do not have the choice to work from home, are earning.

Rather than initiating additional harmful industrial strikes, we urge the Aslef leaders to collaborate with us in finding a solution to this disagreement and providing a just agreement that benefits our employees and implements necessary changes to improve service reliability. What is the government’s stance on this matter?

A representative from the Department for Transport expressed disappointment with Aslef’s ongoing efforts to disrupt train travel for commuters, students, and individuals with crucial medical appointments.

The only rail union currently on strike, Aslf, is refusing to present a fair and reasonable offer to its members. The proposed offer would increase the average train driver’s salary to £65,000.

The leaders of Aslef should act ethically and allow their members to determine their own destiny, rather than making the decision for them.

The Labour Party’s shadow rail minister, Stephen Morgan MP, stated that they plan to return the railways to public ownership as contracts end and prioritize the needs of the passengers.

Source: independent.co.uk