Train strikes: on which days of December will train travel be disrupted?

Train drivers will go on strike again in the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

Train drivers’ union Aslef and the RMT union, which represents other rail workers, have taken regular industrial action over the past 18 months.

Aslef members will stage a “rolling programme” of walkouts between Friday December 1 and Saturday December 9 with different train companies affected each day.

Drivers will also refuse to work overtime between these dates as part of the industrial action.

Many affected operators are expected to offer no services on strike days.

Travel the day before or after strike days could also be affected.

On overtime blackout days, there are likely to be last minute cancellations or schedule reductions.

Passengers are advised to check before traveling.

For the latest information, passengers should check the National Rail or individual operator websites.

Strike action led by thousands of RMT members who work in metro stations. The action was suspended following “significant progress” in negotiations between the union and London Underground.

Rail workers from the RMT union are voting on whether or not to accept a deal in their dispute over wages, job security and working conditions.

This vote will close on November 30, the day before Aslef’s new industrial action begins.

Passengers with advance tickets can be refunded free of charge if the train they are booked on is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.

If passengers have a return ticket, they may also be entitled to a free refund if part of the trip is canceled due to strikes.

Season ticket holders (flexi, monthly or longer) who are unable to travel can claim 100% compensation for strike dates via the Delay Repay program.

The unions say they want a salary offer reflecting the rise in the cost of living.

But the rail industry is under pressure to save money, after the pandemic left a hole in its finances.

The industry says changes to working methods must be agreed for wages to rise.

The average salary for railway workers in 2022 was £45,919, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

If drivers are excluded (as they are generally members of the Aslef union and not the RMT), his estimate is £39,518. However, the RMT union said this figure was too high because it did not include rail cleaning staff.

The ONS says the median salary for “train and tram drivers” is just under £59,000.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents rail companies, made an offer that would have given rail workers a backdated 5% pay rise for 2022. It would then negotiate reforms ahead of a second pay rise with individual operators.

On May 5, RMT members voted to extend the strike mandate for another six months.

The Aslef union has rejected a two-year offer that would see drivers receive a backdated pay rise of 4% for 2022 and 4% this year.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said she had been forced to take industrial action because the train companies “refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and fair wage offer”. reasonable”.

A transport ministry said: “The government has met with rail unions, listened to them and facilitated improved pay and reform deals.”

Separately, a revised offer from Network Rail was accepted by RMT members on March 20, ending a dispute with signal workers and maintenance staff.

The union said the offer equated to a pay rise of between 14.4% for the lowest paid grades and 9.2% for the highest paid.

Unions are required to give at least 14 days’ notice before any strike action.

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