Upcoming rail disruptions were recently announced by train drivers’ unions RMT and Aslef that were due to take place this week, in early October.
RMT has since called off the strike action due to take place on the Tube. However, Aslef’s National Rail strike action will still proceed. This will see disruption to rail travel on October 4.
When are the rail strikes?
There will be strike action affecting National Rail services on October 4, the final day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. All services participating in the walkout will be cancelled.
In addition to the walkout, Aslef has also announced an overtime ban which will take place from Monday, October 2 to Friday, October 6, bringing further disruption to journeys.
Why are there rail strikes?
The strikes have come about due to long and ongoing disputes with 14 train operators over pay, working conditions and jobs. There have been national rail strikes since June 2022 involving two unions; Aslef and RMT. These rail strikes and other forms of industrial action have been causing mass disruption all over the country to passengers’ travel plans.
The union has blamed the government for its failure to meet negotiating teams and that the issues won’t be resolved until the government offer them a settlement.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, has said:
“While we regret having to take this action – we don’t want to lose a day’s pay, or disrupt passengers as they try to travel by train – the government, and the employers have forced us into this position.
“Our members have not, now, had a pay rise for four years – since 2019 – and that’s not right when prices have soared in that time. Train drivers, perfectly reasonably, want to be able to buy now what they could buy four years ago.”
Which operators are involved in the National Rail strikes?
The train companies affected are:
- Avanti West Coast
- C2C
- Caledonian Sleeper
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Greater Anglia
- GWR
- GTR Great Northern Thameslink
- Heathrow Express
- Island Line
- LNER
- Northern Trains
- Southeastern
- Southern
- Gatwick Express
- South Western Railway main line
- Stanstead Express
- SWR depot drivers
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Trains
Is there a Tube strike?
No. The upcoming Tube strike has been cancelled.
RMT had previously announced Tube strikes on October 4 and October 6. However, a breakthrough in discussions has led to the strike action being cancelled.
Said the RMT general secretary Mick Lynch:
“I congratulate all our members who were prepared to take strike action and our negotiations team for securing this victory in our tube dispute.
“Without the unity and industrial power of our members, there is no way we would have been able to make the progress we have.
“We still remain in dispute over outstanding issues around pensions and working agreements and will continue to pursue a negotiated settlement.”
Are there more strikes planned?
There are currently no further strikes pencilled in.
Already booked a ticket on a day affected by strikes?
If a passenger’s train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled then they are able to get refunds on their Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets.
National Rail’s advice during the strikes is to use its Journey Planner in order to help them travel, use its Live Trains page for the most up-to-date information on arrivals and departures, and plan ahead and check before you travel.