Rail strikes: why are the summer walkouts happening and what will the effects be?

Rail passengers face yet more disruption to their trains. Two days in late July will be affected by strikes on the railway network – involving all three rail unions – as well as two weeks in August.

These are the key questions and answers about a complex and disruptive series of stoppages.

Who is going on strike?

The most significant industrial action involves around 40,000 members of the RMT union who work for Network Rail and 14 train operators – incuding Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, GTR (including Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and the Gatwick Express), GWR, LNER, Northern, Southeastern and South Western Railway.

The workers comprises a wide range of employees from cleaners and station staff to signallers and guards. They walked out in the first national rail strike for three decades on 21, 23 and 25 June. Talks have continued since then, but not to the satisfaction of the union.

White-collar staff belonging to the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) are involved in disputes with Avanti West Coast and others.

Train drivers belonging to Aslef and working for Chiltern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground (Arriva Rail London), Southeastern and West Midlands Trains have voted strongly in favour of strikes.

When are they striking?

Let’s deal with the RMT strikes first – because they will have by far the most wide-ranging effects across all three nations of Great Britain. (Northern Ireland will be unaffected, as will the Isle of Wight.)

Their first strike will hit train travellers on Wednesday 27 July. Workers for train operators will walk out from 12.01am, with Network Rail staff stopping work from 2am.

TSSA station staff working for Avanti West Coast will join the 27 July stoppage.

Further RMT strikes are set for Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August.

These strikes will impact some services late on the evenings before each strike day, and earlier services on the mornings after.

For train drivers belonging to Aslef, the pattern is more fragmented. Drivers on Hull Trains will strike on 16, 17, 23 and 24 July. On 23 July, train drivers working for Greater Anglia will also strike.

On 27 July, the day of the RMT strike, drivers will work normally (or, given the widespread closure of the system, not work but still get paid). But on Saturday 30 July they will strike at Chiltern, Greater Anglia, GWR, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains.

What effect will the RMT strikes have?

The network will not shut down completely. but most trains will be cancelled across England, Wales and Scotland.

At Network Rail, the infrastructure provider, the most critical roles in the day-to-day running of the railway are 5,000 signallers. It is likely that management and non-union members will emable trains to run on about half of the nation’s railways.

Train operators are currently bidding to run some services, as they did on the previous strike days. On all lines that are running, there will be strict limits on the amount of traffic replacement signallers could handle.

Which trains could run?

A normal service will run on the eight-mile Isle of Wight line. But elsewhere the normal schedules will be severely disrupted.

Last time 22 per cent of passenger train services ran – most of them on key links to and from London – from around 7.30am until 6.30pm. Given that the reduced timetable ran fairly smoothly, it could be that more than 4,500 of the usual 20,000 daily passenger trains will be operated.

The key links to and from London that are likely to operate, clockwise from the Thames Estuary, are:

In addition, a limited number of key routes not touching London will operate:

What effect will the TSSA strike have?

Because it is taking place only on one train operator, Avanti West Coast, on a day when services will be drastically reduced anyway because of RMT action, it is likelyt o have limited effects.

Can I sensibly plan my travel for the first strike day, then?

No. Wait until timetables are published – probably by 20 July. As a result of the limited hours, last trains will be very early. Key final services last time left London at:

Will other days be affected?

Yes. The RMT industrial action is timed to affect services immediately before and after the strike day – particularly late trains on 26 July and early departures on 28 July.

The RMT action on 18 and 20 August is designed to cause maximum disruption to leisure travel, particularly holidaymakers heading to coast and countryside – or home again.

Trains from late on Wednesday 17 August to early on Sunday 21 August will be affected.

What about the Aslef train drivers’ strikes?

Schedules from the train operators who are involved are likely to be severely disrupted. But because Network Rail signallers will not be striking, other train firms’ services should operate normally.

What are the strikes about?

While each union has its own issues with each company, broadly the demands are summed up by Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA, as:

They say there is plenty of money sloshing around in the rail industry, and that the government is preventing settlements with Network Rail and the train operators.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The rail industry and the government need to understand that this dispute will not simply vanish.

“They need to get serious about providing an offer on pay which helps deal with the cost-of-living crisis, job security for our members and provides good conditions at work.

“Recent proposals from Network Rail fell well short on pay and on safety around maintenance work.

“And the train operating companies have not even made us a pay offer in recent negotiations.

“Now [transport secretary] Grant Shapps has abandoned his forlorn hopes for the job of prime minister, he can now get back to his day job and help sort this mess out.”

Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary, said: “We don’t want to go on strike – strikes are the result of a failure of negotiation – and this union, since I was elected GS in 2011, has only ever been on strike, until this year, for a handful of days.

“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers – not least because our friends and families use public transport, too, and we believe in building trust in the railways in Britain – and we don’t want to lose money by going on strike.

“But we’ve been forced into this position by the train companies, driven by the Tory government. The drivers at the companies where we are striking have had a real terms pay cut over the last three years – since April 2019.

“And these companies are offering us nothing, saying their hands have been tied by the government.”

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “It’s clear union bosses are determined to cause as much misery as possible and derail an event the whole country is looking forward to.

“Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation to make it work better for passengers and be financially sustainable for the long term.

“I urge union bosses to reconsider this divisive action and instead work worth their employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.

“The industry is already on life support and by insisting on working against its employers, instead of with them, the RMT risks pulling the plug for good.”

Could the strikes be called off?

In theory: all sides say they want to continue negotiations.

Addressing the first planned strike date on 27 July, Andrew Haines of Network Rail says: “We urge the RMT to call this action off, get back round the table with us and show some willingness to compromise.”

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “Instead of staging more counterproductive strikes, we ask the RMT to come back to the table so we can deliver a deal that works for our people, our passengers and for taxpayers.”

The RMT says: “We remain open for further talks.”

But the chances of a settlement before 27 July look slim.

Are other strikes on the horizon?

No dates have been announced for further industrial action beyond 20 August, and at least two weeks’ notice must be given of any strike.

Further Aslef ballots on industrial action close at Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry on Wednesday 27 July; and at Northern Trains; TransPennine Express; and Transport for Wales on Thursday 25 August.