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

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

The union has initiated their first strikes for 2024 as the ongoing dispute over wages and working conditions remains unresolved.

The train operators of Aslef are halting their work gradually in different regions from Tuesday, January 30th to Monday, February 5th. Numerous trains will not be in service on each of these days.

The impact is worsened due to a nine-day prohibition on working overtime from January 29th to February 6th.

According to Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, certain members have gone without a salary increase for five consecutive years. Additionally, government officials have rejected any communication with the union for the past year.

The Independent was informed by him that any form of industrial action is highly detrimental. However, due to being on strike for 18 months and receiving no communication from the government or train operating companies for a year, they feel compelled to bring more attention to their concerns.

Huw Merriman, the rail minister, expressed to The Independent that strikes only hinder the progress of the railway. He believes that an equitable and sensible proposal has been presented to Aslef, and it is now up to them to present it to their members.

The train drivers received a salary of £60,000 for working 35 hours a week over four days. This pay agreement would lead to an increase up to £65,000.

“We hope they seize the chance to do so. Then we can discuss the benefits of rail together.”

Individually, the 14 train companies have come to a preliminary settlement with the RMT labor union that has halted strikes while negotiations continue at a regional level. However, the RMT has announced two 48-hour strikes in February and March for the London Overground.

Here are the essential inquiries and responses.

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

Intercity operators:

Transport companies that serve commuters in the southeastern region of England.

Operators concentrating on the central and northern regions of England.

ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (including the Elizabeth Line), Merseyrail, and open-access rail companies like Grand Central, Hull Trains, and Lumo are not participating in the strike. However, their services may also experience high levels of congestion on routes that overlap with those of the affected companies.

The overtime ban will commence on Monday, January 29th.

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

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

There will not be a strike on Thursday, February 1st, but the ban on overtime will still be in effect.

On Friday, February 2nd, the train companies Greater Anglia, C2C, and LNER will be in operation.

On Friday, February 2nd, Greater Anglia, C2C, and LNER will all be running their train services.

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

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

Monday 5 February: Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern.

On Tuesday, February 6th, there will not be a strike, but the overtime ban will still be in effect for one more day.

The forecasts are derived from recent announcements made by railway companies and The Independent’s analysis of past strikes. Please verify them before embarking on your journey.

On January 30, the Great Northern shuttle service will only make stops at London Kings Cross and Cambridge. It may also be branded as Thameslink and will have limited hours of operation.

On January 30th, Thameslink will be operating a shuttle service that stops at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway, and Luton. The company has stated that their trains will experience high levels of congestion and they will have queueing measures in effect.

Thameslink warns that you may not be able to access your preferred transportation. If you are intending to take one of the final trains of the day, keep in mind that you may not be able to board at all due to potentially long lines. Additionally, no other means of transportation will be offered after the last train departs. It is advised to plan accordingly and allow for ample time to reach your desired location.

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

On January 30th, the Gatwick Express is being operated by the Southern airport shuttle.

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

On January 30th, South Western Railway provides a relatively comprehensive service in comparison to other train companies.

On January 31st, there will be no train services available. The operator predicts 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.

The TransPennine Express has announced that there will be no trains on January 31. However, 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 services provided by 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 full capacity and close early in the day. However, the District Line will operate 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 consistent train services running between London King’s Cross and 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 limited direct service to Leeds, but passengers can make connections at Doncaster.

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

East Midlands Railway (3 February): No trains. The train firm warns: “No rail replacement bus services will be provided. Other train operators may be running a reduced service due to an overtime ban.”

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

Chiltern Railway (February 5th): There will be no train services on the day of the strike or the day before, Sunday February 4th. This is because the train operator relies on drivers working overtime on Sundays to run any trains. The ban on overtime means that no services will be running.

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

On February 5th, Great Western Railway will have a limited schedule due to a strike. A basic service will run between London Paddington and Oxford, Bath, and Bristol, and a connection from Bristol to Cardiff will be available. There will also be a limited service on branch lines in Devon and Cornwall. The Night Riviera sleeper train from London to Penzance will not operate for several nights.

On days when there is a strike, train services may be disrupted. There may also be impacts on the days before and after the strike. As a result, train services may be very crowded as passengers adjust their travel plans to avoid the strike.

The government has passed a new law that gives the transport secretary the power to set minimum service levels (MSLs) of 40% on strike days. According to the government, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 is designed to guarantee that people can still use essential services during strike periods.

The train company has not attempted to enforce the new law on the union representing train drivers. LNER mentioned the possibility of doing so and held discussions, prompting Aslef to declare a five-day strike solely on LNER. However, once the train company stated that it would not mandate drivers to work, the strike was cancelled.

According to the BBC, the prime minister is unhappy that train companies have not met the required minimum service standards. A spokesperson from Downing Street stated, “We and the public anticipate that they would adhere to these standards.”

“We have consistently stated that this law is accessible for train operators to utilize.”

The Transport Select Committee has previously cautioned about possible unintended ramifications of the law. The chairperson of the Conservative party, Iain Stewart, stated: “There is a concern that MSLs could potentially exacerbate tensions between workers and employers, leading to decreased reliability of services.”

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

Tuesday 30 January stands out as the most disruptive day in terms of the number of passengers affected. The focus is on commuters in southeast England, where the majority rely on the train operators that are experiencing disruptions. On average, Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern, South Western Railway, and Southeastern transport about 40% of all passengers.

The main lines on the East Coast, West Coast, and Midland will experience disruptions on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 February, greatly impacting intercity travelers.

On Sunday, February 4th, there is a high possibility of major disruptions due to the restriction on working on rest days. Chiltern Railway, which typically operates trains from London to Birmingham, has announced that they will not be running any services due to the overtime ban.

There will be increased disruption due to scheduled maintenance 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 overtime restriction will result in numerous cancellations. According to Aslef, train companies do not have enough drivers to fulfill their promise of providing service to passengers and businesses without requiring drivers to work on their days off.

Some train operators still do not consider Sunday as part of the working week, which means that the ban on rest-day working will significantly affect operations on February 4th.

According to GWR, there will be major interruptions in service and customers are advised to find alternate travel arrangements. Trains will not be running on long-distance routes from London Paddington to Bristol, South Wales, and Exeter/Plymouth/Penzance.

Multiple railway companies have released preemptive cancellations in response to the previous ban on overtime, as outlined below:

On weekends, there will be significantly fewer trains running, and there will also be some reduction in train service on weekdays.

Chiltern Railway: Service disruptions on several routes, with complete suspension of trains on certain branch lines. “Trains will end earlier than usual on all routes.” No trains will operate on Sunday, February 4th.

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

Branch lines connecting Bletchley and Bedford, Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, and Leamington Spa and Nuneaton will experience closures on the majority, if not all, days.

A revised schedule with reduced services will be in effect. There is a possibility of delayed start and early end times for the services.

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

Certain train stations may have restrictions on boarding or disembarking in order to prevent overcrowding.

The Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line, and Tube will continue to provide access to London Heathrow 24/7.

On January 30th, passengers traveling through London Gatwick will experience major disruptions due to strikes. The Gatwick Express and Thameslink trains will not be in operation. However, those traveling between London and Gatwick can utilize a Southern shuttle service that runs directly from Victoria station to the airport. The GWR link connecting Gatwick to Redhill, Guildford, and Reading will operate normally on January 30th, but will not run on February 5th.

On Tuesday, February 2, London Stansted will operate a limited hourly service from the capital. All other days during the overtime ban will experience “service alterations.” The route to Norwich will be cancelled on February 2, but CrossCountry trains to Cambridge (and continuing to Birmingham) will continue to operate. However, on February 5, there will be no CrossCountry trains servicing Stansted airport or any other destinations.

Luton Airport will still be reachable by train from London every day, including on the day of the Thameslink strike (January 30). However, on that day, there will be fewer Thameslink trains running from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway. The East Midlands Railway link will also be in operation. On February 3, when there are expected to be no East Midlands Railway services, Thameslink will be running.

On Friday, February 2nd, there will be hourly train services with limited hours at Southend Airport.

On Tuesday, January 30th, South Western Railway will not be providing service to Southampton airport. Additionally, on Monday, February 5th, CrossCountry will not be serving the airport either.

On Wednesday, January 31, there will be a significant decrease in train services at Manchester airport due to strikes by drivers from Northern and TransPennine Express. The only available transportation will be an hourly connection through Transport for Wales to and from central Manchester, Chester, and North Wales.

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

There will be no disruptions to train services between London St Pancras International and Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. However, travel connections may be challenging 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 trains.

During a recent interview with The Independent, Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, expressed concern over the lack of pay raises in the past five years. He questioned whether action should be taken or if nothing should be done.

The only solution to our problem is a fair agreement.

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

A representative from Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, stated: “The strikes will result in inconvenience for our customers and there are no winners. We are hopeful for a positive future for rail, but currently, taxpayers are providing an additional £54 million per week to maintain services after the Covid pandemic.”

The leaders of Aslef must acknowledge the financial difficulties that the railway is currently facing. A proposal has been presented to drivers, which would increase their base salary to almost £65,000 for a four-day workweek, not including overtime. This amount is much higher than the national average and exceeds the pay of many of our customers who do not have the ability to work remotely.

The government is asking the Aslef leadership to collaborate with them in finding a solution to the conflict instead of resorting to further harmful industrial action. They hope to reach a fair agreement that benefits their employees and improves the reliability of services.

A representative from the Department for Transport expressed disappointment in Aslef’s ongoing focus on disrupting train travel for commuters, students, and those with critical medical appointments.

“Aslef 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 ethically and allow their members to determine their own fate, rather than making the decision for them.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, expressed disbelief that the transport secretary has failed to meet with unions to address the issue since the previous Christmas.

The Labour party will follow a distinctively different approach from the Conservatives and will collaborate with both parties to come to an agreement that benefits both passengers and workers. If the transportation minister adopted this rational approach, it’s possible that we would not still be experiencing strikes on our railways.

The previous statement made by Labour’s shadow rail minister, Stephen Morgan MP, stated that the party plans to return ownership of the railways back to the public as contracts come to an end, and prioritize passenger interests in service delivery.

Over the course of two weeks, on February 19-20 and March 4-5 in the year 2024, more than 300 members of the RMT union will participate in two 48-hour strikes on the London Overground. This includes employees in security, station, revenue, and control positions.

The RMT reported that Arriva Rail London, the company in charge of London Overground, has proposed a pay increase that is below the rate of inflation.

“The RMT’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, stated that if the issue at hand cannot be resolved, the union is fully prepared to engage in prolonged industrial action in order to secure a fair salary increase for London Overground employees.”

The Independent has reached out to the Department for Transport and Arriva Rail London for a statement.

Source: independent.co.uk