Fresh train strikes to disrupt commuters in May as drivers walk out again

Train drivers at 16 rail companies will launch another series of one-day strikes in May, it has been announced.

Members of the Aslef union, which represents 96 per cent of train drivers in Britain, will walk-out between Tuesday 7 May and Thursday 9 May.

They will also refuse to work overtime between Monday 6 and Saturday 11 May. It follows a series of train driver strikes in April, which hit commuters across the UK after relations between union officials and the government broke down.

Aslef members voted overwhelmingy to continue taking industrial action in February. However, negotiations between the union, ministers and the representaive body for UK train companies, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), have been non-existent.

“It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies – and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected,” Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said.

“Since then train drivers have voted, again and again, to take action to get a pay rise,” he added.

“That’s why Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members. Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable. They don’t. And that offer – now a year old – is dead in the water.”

A spokesperson for the RDG said: “This wholly unnecessary strike action called by the ASLEF leadership will sadly disrupt customers and businesses once again, while further damaging the railway at a time when taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54m a week just to keep services running.

“We continue to seek a fair agreement with the ASLEF leadership which both rewards our people, gives our customers more reliable services and makes sure the railway isn’t taking more than its fair share from taxpayers.”

The operators which will be affected are as follows:

Tuesday 7 May: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway main line and depot drivers, and SWR Island Line.

Wednesday 8 May: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.

Thursday 9 May: LNER, Northern Trains, and TransPennine Trains.