There will be a national rail strike in the first week of February after the Aslef union says that it has rejected a proposal to settle the ongoing dispute.
The latest strikes will take place on Wednesday 1st and Friday 3rd February, and will also likely see early morning disruption on both Thursday and Saturday as well.
The companies affected include:
- Avanti West Coast
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Great Western Railway (GWR)
- Greater Anglia
- Great Northern
- London North Eastern Railway
- Northern Trains
- Southeastern
- Southern
- South Western Railway (depot drivers only)
- Island Line
- Thameslink
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Trains
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said: “The proposal is not and could not ever be acceptable but we are willing to engage in further discussions within the process that we previously agreed.”
“Irreparable harm has been done to the integrity of the negotiating process and the future ability to negotiate an appropriate way forward, but we make ourselves available anyway.”
The rail strikes will take place at the same time as a national school strike and a strike by around 100,000 civil servants.
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, said: “It’s disappointing our fair and affordable offer, which would take average driver base salaries from £60,000 to nearly £65,000 by the end of 2023 pay awards, wasn’t put to the Aslef members. With taxpayers still funding up to an extra £175 million a month to make up the shortfall in revenue post-covid, it provided a significant salary uplift while bringing in long overdue, common-sense reforms that would mean more reliable services for passengers. Rather than announcing further unnecessary strikes, we ask Aslef to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a better railway with a strong long-term future.”
