Rail commuters in Greater Manchester face further chaos as train drivers’ strike continues

Rail commuters in Greater Manchester face further chaos and cancellations this week as the train drivers’ strike continues.

Rail services on some of the country’s busiest commuter routes will be halted today – Tuesday – due to a fresh strike by drivers in a nearly two-year pay dispute.

Strikes will affect routes across Greater Manchester later this week, with Avanti West Coast drivers taking action on Wednesday and Northern and TransPennine Express on Thursday.

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Aslef members from operators, including those running services to London such as Southern, Southeastern and South Western Railway, will walk out for the day. The strikes will take place on Wednesday and Thursday at various operators, while drivers are also banning overtime until Saturday, which is also causing disruption. Passengers are being urged to check before attempting to travel by train this week.

The dispute is now the longest in the rail industry. There is a glimmer of hope that negotiations will begin in a bid to resolve the dispute after the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) invited Aslef to discuss exploring any common ground that could break the impasse.

There have been no formal talks between the operators and the union for a year or more involving a transport minister. Business groups have warned of the impact on the economy of the strikes, particularly for hospitality firms.

Muniya Barua, deputy chief executive at BusinessLDN, said: “Another round of industrial action on the rail network will cause disruption for businesses and commuters up and down the country.

“Against the backdrop of weak economic growth and as we head into a crucial summer trading period for retail, leisure and hospitality firms, we urge all parties to work together to resolve these long-standing discussions and maintain the city in motion. The impact of these layoffs will be felt even more acutely by many, thanks to a shorter work week.”

Train drivers will strike on the following days:

• Tuesday 7 May: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR’s Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern (including Gatwick Express), Southeastern and South Western Railway.
• Wednesday 8 May: Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, Chiltern, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, GWR and West Midlands Trains.
• Thursday 9 May: LNER, Northern and TransPennine Express.

Aslef said its members had not had a pay rise for five years and accused the government of “giving up” on trying to resolve the dispute.

A GDR spokesman said: “The rail industry is working hard to keep trains running, but services on some lines are likely to be affected in the evening before and morning after each strike between May 7 and May 9 as many trains will not be affected. be in the right warehouses to start next day services.

“We can apologize to our customers for this completely unnecessary strike called by Aslef management, which will unfortunately disrupt travel once again. It will also cause further damage to an industry which receives up to £54m a week in taxpayers’ cash to keep services running in the wake of the Covid recession.”

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “The Transport Secretary and the Rail Secretary have already facilitated a pay offer which would take average train driver wages up to £65,000 – almost double the UK average wage. Aslef is the only union left on strike after the Government oversaw agreements with all other unions.

“Instead of causing disruption to passengers, they should make this offer to their members and work with the industry to end this dispute.”

Meanwhile, engineers on Croydon Tramlink went on strike on Sunday until 6am on Thursday in a separate pay dispute.