Train strikes latest LIVE: Commuters suffer fresh travel misery as RMT walkout kicks off week-long disruption
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ail passengers are facing fresh travel disruption set to last all week as tens of thousands of workers take strike action in bitter disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
About 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators are staging a 48-hour walkout, with another to follow on Friday, while drivers in the Aslef union will strike on Thursday.
Picket lines were again being mounted outside railway stations across the country in a repeat of what became a familiar sight last year.
Passengers, including those returning to work after the festive break, are being warned to expect “significant disruption” as only a limited number of trains will run.
The advice is to only travel if absolutely necessary, allow extra time and check when first and last trains will depart.
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On RMT strike days, around half of the network will shut down, with only about 20% of normal services running.
Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual – with services typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm on the day of the strike.
The Elizabeth Line is also disrupted with no service betwen Paddington and Heathrow/Reading and Liverpool Street to Shenfield. London Overground services have also been hit along with parts of the Bakerloo and District lines.
Meanwhile, Network Rail’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday morning that a deal to stop rail strikes is in “touching distance”.
“We only need 2,000 people who voted no last time to change their vote and the deal will pass. So, we think that’s within touching distance,” he said.
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Deal to stop rail strikes in ‘touching distance’
Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, has said a deal to stop rail strikes is in “touching distance”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Some members are coming back to work, and we are seeing increasing numbers come back to work, but that’s not the way to resolve the problem or the dispute.
“The way to resolve that dispute is through an agreement and what we’re saying to the RMT is that it’s very clear from the referendum that they held, they did it very quickly, it was only open for a few days, that actually that was rushed, and it didn’t allow and give time for people to ask genuine questions there are associated with the reform elements of this deal.
“So, what we’re saying to the RMT is that we know which areas had been misunderstood by some of our staff, their members, and we want to make sure that we can work with the RMT now to make clarifications where there’s been misunderstanding and put the deal out again.
“We only need 2,000 people who voted no last time to change their vote and the deal will pass. So, we think that’s within touching distance.”
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Deal to stop strikes ‘within touching distance’, says Network Rail
Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, has said a deal to stop rail strikes is in “touching distance”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Some members are coming back to work, and we are seeing increasing numbers come back to work, but that’s not the way to resolve the problem or the dispute.
“The way to resolve that dispute is through an agreement and what we’re saying to the RMT is that it’s very clear from the referendum that they held, they did it very quickly, it was only open for a few days, that actually that was rushed, and it didn’t allow and give time for people to ask genuine questions there are associated with the reform elements of this deal.
“So, what we’re saying to the RMT is that we know which areas had been misunderstood by some of our staff, their members, and we want to make sure that we can work with the RMT now to make clarifications where there’s been misunderstanding and put the deal out again.
“We only need 2,000 people who voted no last time to change their vote and the deal will pass. So, we think that’s within touching distance.”
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Lynch: ‘We still have support of the public and want to negotiate‘
Mick Lynch, the RMT’s boss, has said the union still has the support of the public as the walkout brings services to a standstill, writes John Dunne.
Mr Lynch who was on the picket line at Euston told the Standard: “We want to negotiate but the government will not. We want a change in the weather as do the public.. The rail companies are still making plenty of dosh. We still have the support of the travelling public.”
He added that the union had regularly spoken to rail company chiefs but the government was ignoring their demands.
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Rail unions told: Let London get back to work by calling off strikes
Rail unions have been told to let London “get back to work” by calling off strikes crippling the transport network today and this week.
Many people are having to work from home on Tuesday rather than join the “Great Return to Work” after the Christmas break because so few trains are running.
Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers told the Standard: “These strikes are unjustified deeply irresponsible. They will cause misery to millions, as well as damaging the recovery of rail passenger numbers after Covid.”
The Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet added: “The unions should call off their industrial action right now so that our capital city can get back to work.”
Cities of London and Westminster Tory MP Nickie Aiken stressed: “It’s disappointing that the unions insist on continuing their disruption.”
Read our full story here.
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Which train operating companies are affected by the strike?
The nationwide strike is affecting a number of train operating companies used by commuters to travel in and out of London.
The affected train operating companies are:
– Avanti West Coast
– Chiltern Railways
– CrossCountry
– East Midlands Railway
– Gatwick Express
– Great Northern
– Great Western Railway
– Greater Anglia
– Heathrow Express
– Island Line
– LNER
– London Northwestern Railway
– Northern
– South Western Railway
– Southeastern
– Southern
– Stansted Express
– Thameslink
– TransPennine Express
– West Midlands Railway
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Which TfL services are affected by strike?
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today’s rail strike.
Tens of thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators are striking. Commuters returning to work are being warned to expect “significant disruption” because only a limited number of trains will run.
Around half of the rail nework is shut down and only about 20% of normal services are running.
Services which will run will typically do so between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
The London Overground is currently not running because of strike action, while the walkout is also causing part suspensions on the routes of the Bakerloo and District.
The Elizabeth line also has no service between Paddington to Heathrow/Reading and Liverpool Street to Shenfield because of the walkout.
The advice is to only travel if absolutely necessary, allow extra time and check when first and last trains will depart.
To see the latest TfL travel information, visit here.
