UK rail passengers urged not to travel as strikes go ahead

UK passengers have been urged solely to journey “if completely mandatory” on Thursday and Saturday after it was confirmed that deliberate strikes by rail employees will go forward.

The most recent industrial motion by an estimated 40,000 members of the RMT will see solely round 20 per cent of the UK’s regular prepare schedule working on 18 and 20 August, with some components of the nation having no rail providers in any respect on lately.

RMT members have already taken three days of strike motion in June and July in an ongoing dispute over pay and jobs with Community Rail and the prepare working firms. Practice drivers, who’re members of the Aslef union, have additionally taken separate industrial action this summer.

Community Rail is introducing particular timetables for this week’s two strike days with trains beginning later and ending sooner than standard between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

The walkouts by RMT members will have an effect on the next prepare operators: Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Better Anglia, Nice Western Railway, GTR (together with Gatwick Specific), Hull Trains, LNER, London Northwestern, London Overground, Northern, Southeastern, South Western Railway, TransPennine Specific, West Midlands Trains, Heathrow Specific and Stansted Specific.

Passengers travelling on Friday (19 August) and Sunday (21 August) are additionally being warned that there’s “prone to be some disruption” within the early morning of each days as employees return to their duties. A deliberate strike by London Underground can be resulting from happen on Friday.

Andrew Haines, Community Rail’s chief government, stated: “It saddens me that we’re once more having to ask passengers to keep away from the railway for 2 days this week resulting from pointless strike motion, after we must be serving to them take pleasure in their summers.

“We’ll run as many providers as we are able to on Thursday and Saturday, however it should solely be round a fifth of the standard timetable, so please solely journey if completely mandatory and in the event you should journey, plan forward and test when your final prepare will likely be.”

Steve Montgomery, chair of the Rail Supply Group, which represents the prepare firms, added: “In the event you’re not in a position to journey on 18 or 20 August, you need to use your ticket both the day earlier than or as much as and together with 23 August, in any other case it is possible for you to to vary your ticket or declare a refund.”

Confirming that this week’s strikes will go forward, RMT common secretary Mick Lynch stated: “Community Rail has not made any enchancment on its earlier pay supply and the prepare working firms haven’t provided us something new.

“RMT will proceed to barter in good religion however we can’t tolerate being bullied or hoodwinked into accepting a uncooked deal for our members.

“The federal government must cease their interference in these disputes so the employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us.”