Important Dates for Train Strikes in January and February: What You Need to Know about Possible Disruptions

The conflict between Aslef, the union representing train drivers, and 14 train companies in England has been ongoing for three years.

The union has initiated its initial strikes for 2024 as there is still no resolution in the ongoing dispute regarding pay and working conditions.

Aslef-affiliated train operators will be engaging in a region-by-region work stoppage from Tuesday, January 30th to Monday, February 5th. This will result in the cancellation of numerous trains each day.

The situation is worsened by a nine-day prohibition on working extra hours, which was in effect from January 29th to February 6th.

According to Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, certain members have not received a salary increase in the past five years. Additionally, government officials have not been willing to communicate or negotiate with the union for a period of one year.

The speaker, in an interview with The Independent, 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, they felt compelled to bring attention to their grievances.

The Independent received a statement from rail minister Huw Merriman, stating that strikes hinder the progress of the railway. It is believed that a fair and sensible proposal has been presented to Aslef, and it is up to them to present it to their members.

These train operators earn an average of £60,000 for a 35-hour, four-day work week. The proposed salary agreement would increase their pay to £65,000.

“We hope they will seize the opportunity and engage in discussions about the benefits of rail.”

Here are the main inquiries and their corresponding responses.

Aslef is currently in conflict with the train operators who are contracted by the government to offer rail services. These operators include:

Intercity operators:

Operators of commuter services in Southeast England

Operators targeting the central and northern regions of England.

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 are expected to be highly congested on sections where they overlap with companies affected by the strike.

Starting on Monday, January 29th, there will be an overtime ban in effect.

On Tuesday, January 30th, notifications and comments regarding South Western Railway, Southeastern, and GTR (Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, and Thameslink) will be returned.

On Wednesday, January 31st, there will be services provided by Northern and TransPennine Express.

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

On Friday, February 2nd, trains operated by Greater Anglia, C2C, and LNER will be running.

On Saturday, February 3rd, three train companies will be operating in the West Midlands: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, and East Midlands Railway.

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

On Monday, February 5th, the Great Western, CrossCountry, and Chiltern services will be operating.

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

These forecasts are derived from recent declarations made by railway companies and observations made by The Independent during past strikes. It is advisable to verify them before embarking on your travels.

On January 30th, the Great Northern shuttle will only make stops at London Kings Cross and Cambridge. This service may be called Thameslink and will have restricted operating hours.

On January 30th, Thameslink will be running a shuttle service with stops at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, and Luton only. The company has warned that their trains will be high in demand and queues may be implemented.

Thameslink advises that it may not be possible for you to board your desired train service. If you are intending to travel on one of the final trains of the day, please take note that depending on the length of the line, you may not be able to board any train service at all. Additionally, no other transportation alternatives will be offered once the last train has departed. It is recommended to plan ahead and allow ample time to reach your intended destination.

On January 30th, Southern Railway will only have a nonstop shuttle 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, which is a shuttle service to the Southern airport, will be in operation.

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

On January 30th, South Western Railway has a relatively comprehensive service when compared to other train companies.

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

On January 31, TransPennine Express will not be running any trains. According to the company, there will be changes to evening services on January 30 and early morning services on February 1.

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

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

On February 2nd, LNER will have consistent trains running on main routes that connect London King’s Cross to Doncaster, York, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. The first trains will leave at approximately 8am and most trips will be completed by 7pm. There will be a restricted direct service to Leeds, but transfers can be made 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 train services. The company also states that they will not be offering any alternative bus services and other train companies may have limited schedules due to an overtime restriction.

On February 3rd, West Midlands Railway has announced that there will be no train services and has issued a warning that there will be significant delays and cancellations on Sunday, February 4th.

On February 5th, Chiltern railway services will not be available due to a strike. This also applies to the day before, February 4th, as the train operator relies on drivers working overtime on Sundays in order to run any trains. As a result of the overtime ban, there will be no train services running.

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

On February 5th, Great Western Railway will operate a reduced service between London Paddington and Oxford, Bath, and Bristol. There will also be a connection from Bristol to Cardiff. Limited service will be available on branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper service from London to Penzance will be suspended for several nights.

Besides the interruption during strike days, trains on surrounding days could also be impacted. These services are expected to be overcrowded as passengers try to reschedule their trips to avoid the industrial action.

The new law permits the transportation secretary to determine the minimum level of service (MSL) for strike days, which must be at least 40% of the regular service.

The train company is not trying to enforce the new law on the union representing train drivers. LNER stated that they may consider doing so and began discussions, which led to Aslef declaring a separate five-day strike solely for LNER. However, the train company later announced that they will not force drivers to work, resulting in the strike being cancelled.

The Transport Select Committee has previously expressed concern about the possible unintended effects of the law. Conservative chair Iain Stewart stated, “There is a possibility that MSLs could harm the relationship between workers and employers, ultimately leading to less reliable services.”

The regulations for minimum levels of service do not pertain to labor unions prohibiting work on non-contractual days of rest.

Yes. In terms of sheer number of passengers hit, Tuesday 30 January is the most disruptive. It is aimed at commuters in southeast England, the majority of whom use the affected train operators. Normally Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern, South Western Railway and Southeastern carry around 40 per cent of all passengers.

On Friday, February 2nd and Saturday, February 3rd, intercity travelers will experience the most negative impact. This is due to the major operators on the East Coast and West Coast main lines, as well as the Midland main line, being affected.

Sunday 4 February is also likely to be severely disrupted mainly because of the ban on rest-day working. Chiltern Railway, which would normally run trains between London and Birmingham, says no services will run at all due to the overtime ban.

There will be increased disturbance due to scheduled maintenance on the West Coast main line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and on the East Coast main line between London King’s Cross and Stevenage.

The sole implementation of an overtime restriction will result in numerous cancellations. Aslef states that train companies do not have an adequate number of drivers to fulfill their commitment to passengers and businesses without requiring them to work on their scheduled days off.

Several train companies still do not include Sunday as a regular work day, which means that the ban on working on rest days will have a significant impact on February 4th.

According to GWR, there will be major changes to transportation services and customers are advised to consider traveling on different days. There will be no trains running on long-distance routes from London Paddington to Bristol, South Wales, and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.

Numerous railway companies have declared proactive cancellations in response to the preceding overtime restriction, as outlined below.

Limited service on weekends and reduced train availability during weekdays.

Chiltern has greatly decreased its service on many routes and there will be no trains running on certain branch lines. Additionally, all routes will have earlier service ending times. On Sunday, February 4th, there will be no train services.

There will be no Gatwick Express trains running during the overtime ban. However, Southern trains will still operate between London Victoria and Gatwick airport during the industrial action.

The following branch lines will be closed for most or all days: Bletchley to Bedford, Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa to Nuneaton on London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway.

The revised schedule will have fewer services and may have delayed start and end times compared to normal.

Thameslink cautions: “A modified schedule with reduced frequency will be implemented.”

To prevent overcrowding, some trains may limit either boarding or exiting at specific stations.

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

Travelers going to or from London Gatwick on Tuesday, January 30th will experience major disruptions due to strikes. Both the Gatwick Express and Thameslink trains will not be operating. However, there will be a Southern shuttle service available for passengers traveling between London and Gatwick, with nonstop service between Victoria station and the airport. The GWR link from Gatwick to Redhill, Guildford, and Reading will run as usual on January 30th, but not on February 5th.

On Tuesday, February 2nd, London Stansted will have a limited service from the capital, with changes to the schedule on other days due to an overtime ban. The route to Norwich will not be available on February 2nd, but CrossCountry trains to Cambridge and Birmingham will continue to operate. However, on February 5th, there will be no CrossCountry trains running to Stansted airport or any other destinations.

Luton airport will still be reachable by train, specifically from London, every day. On the day of the Thameslink strike, January 30th, there will be a limited service from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway. The East Midlands Railway connection will also be in operation. On February 3rd, when it is expected that no East Midlands Railway trains will run, Thameslink will be running as usual.

There will be trains departing from Southend airport on Friday, February 2nd, but they will be operating on a limited schedule.

Southampton airport will not receive services from South Western Railway on Tuesday, January 30 or from CrossCountry on Monday, February 5.

On Wednesday, January 31, the rail service at Manchester airport will be significantly decreased. Due to strikes by Northern and TransPennine Express drivers, there will only be an hourly connection on Transport for Wales between central Manchester, Chester, and North Wales.

Birmingham airport is likely to be inaccessible by rail on Saturday 3 February, except for Transport for Wales from Birmingham New Street.

There will be no changes to the train schedule between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. However, it may be challenging to make connecting trips on days when there is a strike, especially on Tuesday, January 30th when Thameslink and Southeastern are not operating, 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, stated that it has been nearly five years without a salary increase. The question arises, should we take no action?

“The sole solution to our predicament is a fair agreement.”

He predicts that without a settlement, the situation will become more chaotic and unpleasant.

A representative from Rail Delivery Group, which represents the train companies, stated that the strikes will not benefit anyone and will unfortunately cause inconvenience for our passengers. We have faith in the potential of the railway industry, but currently taxpayers are providing an additional £54m per week to maintain operations after the impact of Covid.

Aslef’s leaders must acknowledge the financial difficulties that the rail industry is facing. They have proposed an increase in base salaries for drivers to almost £65,000 for a four-day work week, before factoring in overtime. This amount is significantly higher than the national average and the salaries of many of our customers who do not have the ability to work remotely.

The government is urging the Aslef leadership to collaborate with them in finding a solution to the dispute and reaching a fair agreement that benefits both employees and improves service reliability, rather than resorting to further harmful industrial action.

A representative from the Department of Transport expressed their disappointment in Aslef’s ongoing efforts to disrupt train travel for individuals commuting to work, school, or important medical appointments.

Aslef is the sole rail union that is currently striking and refusing to present a just and equitable proposal to its members. The proposal that is still available would increase the average train driver’s salary to £65,000.

The leaders of Aslef should allow their members to make their own decisions about their future, instead of making the decisions for them.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, expressed disappointment that the transport secretary has not made efforts to negotiate with unions to find a solution since the previous Christmas.

“The Labour party will adopt a distinct and unapologetic strategy compared to the Tories, and will collaborate with both parties to come to an agreement that benefits passengers and employees. If the transport secretary were to follow this logical approach, we may not still be experiencing strikes on our railway system.”

In the past, Stephen Morgan MP, who serves as the shadow rail minister, stated that the Labour party’s plan is to return the railways to public ownership and make sure that services prioritize the needs of passengers as contracts come to an end.

Source: independent.co.uk