Train strike – live: Weekend travel chaos looms in third walkout of the week

‘Nervousness’ within rail industry over tomorrow’s strike, source claims

A rail industry source told the PA news agency that while stations were "relatively quiet" during the first two strike days, there is "a nervousness" about what will happen on Saturday.

Many seaside resorts will have no services on Saturday, including Bournemouth, Dorset; Blackpool, Lancashire; Margate, Kent; Llandudno, north Wales; and Skegness, Lincolnshire. Cornwall will also have no trains.

Services across Britain will primarily be restricted to main lines, but even those will only be open between 7.30am and 6.30pm. That means first trains will leave later and last trains will be much earlier than normal.

Disruption will continue into Sunday.

Could by-election defeats conceivably speed a rail settlement?

In his latest travel podcast for The Independent, travel correspondent Simon Calder picks up on the two by-election defeats for the government. He points out the little-known fact that Wakefield and Tiverton are connected every two hours by direct train – except on days when railway workers are on strike, as on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week.

While the war of words between the RMT union and the government continues, Calder speculates that ministers may wish swiftly to resolve the trains issue – fearing that it is adding to the impression of a nation in chaos.

The message that the industrial action is all the fault of Labour doesn't seem to be holding sway with voters. Ministers’ reluctance to give any concessions on the bargaining table might ease if they sense that further rail strikes could be politically damaging.

You can listen to his latest podcast here.

Andy Gregory24 June 2022 14:45

London Underground workers back further industrial action this summer

London Underground workers have reaffirmed their backing for further industrial action in a dispute over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions, raising the prospect of a wave of summer strikes.

By law, the RMT union had to reballot its members, and on Friday celebrated a “decisive” result in favour, with more than 90 per cent of those who voted backed industrial action on a 53.1 per cent turnout.

“This is a fantastic result for our members and proves that the arguments RMT has been making is endorsed by Tube workers,” said RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.

“Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London need to seriously re-think their plans for hundreds of job cuts and trying to take hard-earned pensions from workers who serve the people of London on a daily basis. We are acutely aware of the funding cuts being foisted on TfL by the Westminster government.

“However, Mayor Sadiq Khan needs to mount a serious campaign for the people of London, to get the capital city the funding it deserves for its public transport. He should not be trying to sacrifice our members’ pensions and jobs to fit within budget restraints laid down by Boris Johnson.”

While no new strike dates have been set, they will be decided by the union's executive in due course.

Andy Gregory24 June 2022 13:40

Mick Lynch says rail workers ‘lauded as heroes’ in pandemic but now treated as ‘out of fashion’

Union boss Mick Lynch has said the government lauded rail workers as “heroes” during the Covid-19 pandemic, only to treat them as “out of fashion” now restrictions have lifted, my colleague Eleanor Sly reports.

Speaking on BBC One’s Question Time last night, the head of the RMT union said: “We were lauded as heroes by Grant Shapps, they worked all the way through the pandemic, they were not furloughed, and they kept our railway and transport systems going.

“But what they’re being told now as a result of that, is that you’re out of fashion, you’re out of date, somehow the terms and conditions that we’ve negotiated over many years and we think are a fair deal…”

He added: “We think that’s what every worker in Britain, in every business should have. But what we’re faced with now is a clampdown. And it’s a deliberate clampdown by the government… and they’re using the temporary phenomenon of Covid as an excuse to rip out and strip out terms and conditions.”

Andy Gregory24 June 2022 12:58

Union boss warns of ‘long-running summer of discontent’

The general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) has warned of “a long-running summer of discontent” across the rail network, as the union moved to ballot its members on whether to strike over pay, conditions and job security.

“Our members at Greater Anglia are seeking basic fair treatment in the teeth of a crippling cost-of-living crisis,” Manuel Cortes said

“Rail workers were hailed as heroes in the pandemic and now they deserve a real terms pay rise which keeps pace with inflation, rather than shouldering the burden of the Tories' economic meltdown.

“Our demands are simple – pay which reflects the times we live in, a deal which delivers job security, and no race to the bottom on terms and conditions.

“It's time the government changed course. Instead of making cuts across our railway the Department for Transport should either give Greater Anglia and other companies the signal to make us a reasonable offer, or ministers should come to the negotiating table and speak to us directly.

“The alternative is a long-running summer of discontent across our rail network. Make no mistake, we are preparing for all options, including coordinated strike action which would bring trains to a halt.”

Andy Gregory24 June 2022 10:59

More rail workers to be balloted for strikes

More railway workers are to be balloted for strikes, with the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) serving notice to ballot its members at Greater Anglia for strike action and action short of strike – over pay, conditions and job security.

The union is demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for 2022, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which reflects the rising cost of living.

Voting starts on 29 June, with the result due in mid-July, so the earliest date strike action could take place is 27 July.

The TSSA is also balloting its members in Network Rail, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER, C2C, Great Western Railway (GWR) and TransPennine Express.

TSSA members are found in a number of roles, including station staff and managers, conductors, driver managers, train crew managers and platform team leaders.

Andy Gregory24 June 2022 10:06

Expected strike impact on Edinburgh Pride ‘really quite sad’, organiser says

An organiser of Edinburgh Pride said it is “really quite sad” that thousands are expected to miss the annual event due to Saturday’s planned rail strikes.

Jamie Love, marketing director for Edinburgh Pride, said his team are expecting around 5,000 from in and around Scotland’s capital to attend, compared with more than 12,000 people in 2019.

“It’s quite disappointing,” Mr Love, 27, told the PA news agency. “As Pride organisers, our whole job relies on making pride accessible to those that really want to and maybe don’t have spaces like Pride anywhere near them.

“That’s the saddest and hardest part because obviously, those are the people who are going to be impacted the most. That will be really quite sad and I know that people will be really upset by that.”

The event, kicking off with a march at midday in the city centre, is partnered with London North Eastern Railway and is also sponsored by Mr Love’s marketing agency Monumental. But LNER’s regular Pride pop-up at Edinburgh Waverley, the city’s central station, will not take place due to the strike action.

'Take TfL out of mayor's hands, Tory MP says

A London Tory MP, Nickie Aiken, has suggested that the government should take control of Transport for London [TfL] out of mayor Sadiq Khan’s hands.

She claimed that “Sadiq has proven he is not fit to run TfL. I think it’s time that the Department for Transport looked at taking it off him. We can’t go on like this. Something has got to give.”

On Thursday, the mayor blamed the government for a lack of funding. He said that this lack of funds was the reason behind axing 22 bus routes and reducing frequencies on almost 60 more.

“Every few months Sadiq goes cap in hand, without any proper strategy to turn TfL’s finances around apart from cuts to services. I have run a £3bn organisation. I know what it is like to face government cuts, but you find efficiencies and new ways of working,” Ms Aiken said.

“I have been inundated with concerns from constituents, particularly the over 60s, about the bus plans that Sadiq has got to cut their bus or change it so dramatically that they will have to get two or three buses to get to their destination.”

Maroosha Muzaffar24 June 2022 07:00

ICYMI: Starmer stance on rail strikes ‘may end’ Labour party, union chief warns

A senior union leader has warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the railway strikes “may end” the Labour party.

Read the full story by Andrew Woodcock here:

Maroosha Muzaffar24 June 2022 06:55

'Talks are a sham', shadow transport secretary says

Louise Haigh, shadow transport secretary accused the transport secretary of “tying the hands of those at the table” and failing to reach a resolution.

She said: “Ministers owe it to all those impacted by this serious disruption to get around the table for last ditch talks, to sort it out and avert this disruption.”

She added that Grant Shapps has tied the hands of those at the table. “He and his department failed to give the train operating companies, a party to these talks, any mandate to negotiate whatsoever… These talks are a sham because ministers have set them up to fail.”

Maroosha Muzaffar24 June 2022 06:45

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. 
Read our Privacy notice

{{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. 
Read our Privacy notice

{{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}