Strikes by railway workers across England, Scotland and Wales are set to resume next month, as long-running disputes over pay, jobs, and working conditions continue. The strikes could bring UK rail travel to a dead halt.
Planned strike action was set to take place on September 15 and 17, but was called off due to the death and subsequent mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II. New dates for the strikes have now been announced.
Members of the driver’s union, Aslef, will walk out on October 1 and 5, and Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) members will strike for 24 hours on October 1, reports the Belfast Telegraph.
The RMT has said that the walk-out will bring railways to an effective standstill.
It is understood that hundreds of members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association will also strike on October 1, although the services that will be affected have not yet been confirmed, according to the Telegraph.
Train operators affected by the RMT walk-out include Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains, and GTR (including Gatwick Express as well as Network Rail).
Train companies affected by Aslef members striking are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains.
Multiple strikes have been seen over the ‘summer of solidarity’, which is set to continue into autumn and winter should the union’s demands not be met.
More London Underground disruption is likely to occur in the remainder of this year, as a pay row between Transport for London (TfL) and union RMT continues. The RMT warned in August that more Tube strikes could take place due to concerns over workers’ pay and pensions.
