Train strikes to restart sparking anger from City bodies and hospitality groups

UK train passengers are facing another wave of industrial action this week as members of the train drivers’ union Aslef walk out in an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.

Three one-day strikes will take place between Tuesday and Thursday, with a seperate ban on overtime working also set to cause disruption from the Monday bank holiday.

Passengers have been warned to check the National Rail website ahead of travel, with many services cancelled and others running a reduced set of routes.

The train companies 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.

An overtime ban will run between Monday 6 May and Saturday 11 May.

Members of Aslef, which represents 96 per cent of UK train drivers, already staged walk-outs in April. The London Underground has also been subject to station closures due to strikes from customer service managers at the TSSA.

Aslef rejected an offer of an eight per cent rise over two years from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) in April 2023. In February, its members voted overwhelmingly to continue striking.

The union is particularly infuriated by new minimum service legislation, which enforces train companies have enough staff to run 40 per cent of services on strike dates

Ahead of the latest round, London businesses and the hospitality sector have urged union officials and train companies to find a resolution after nearly two years of disruption.

Muniya Barua, deputy chief executive of the lobby group BusinessLDN, told City A.M.: “Yet another round of industrial action across the rail network will cause disruption for businesses and commuters up and down the country.

“Amid weak economic growth, and as we head into a summer trading period which is crucial for retail, leisure and hospitality firms, we urge all parties to work together to resolve these long-running talks and keep the city moving.

“The impact of these walkouts will be felt even more acutely by many owing to a shorter working week.”  

The UK hospitality sector estimates its total losses will cross the £5bn mark in 2024. Kris Hamer, director of insight at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Rail strikes are disruptive for retail, as they limit commuter, leisure and tourist traffic.

“To avoid disruption, many people will opt to work from home, impacting already-vulnerable city centre businesses reliant on their custom.

“London’s footfall remains down on pre-pandemic levels, and strikes will only slow the progress retailers have made to bring people back to stores.”

Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality, said train strikes had cost £387m this year alone. “The hospitality sector supports of millions of jobs and generates billions of pounds for the UK economy but ongoing action is putting this at risk. This dispute has gone on for far too long and we need all parties to get back round the table to negotiate and reach a solution as soon as possible.”

A spokesperson for the RDG said: “The rail industry is working hard to keep trains running but it is likely that services on some lines will be affected on the evening before and morning after each strike between May 7 and May 9 because many trains will not be in the right depots to start services the following day.

“We can only apologise to our customers for this wholly unnecessary strike action called by the Aslef leadership which will sadly disrupt journeys once again.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) said: “The Transport Secretary and Rail Minister have already facilitated a pay offer that would take train drivers’ average salaries up to £65,000 – almost twice the UK average salary.

“Aslef are the only union left striking after the government oversaw deals with all the other unions.

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