Train strikes today - live: Rail passengers hit by travel chaos as October walkouts continue

Southeastern and East Midlands Railway will run some trains on Saturday

Two of the rail firms who have cancelled all their services on Wednesday say they will run a reduced timetable on Saturday 8 October – the day of the next national rail strike.

Southeastern and East Midlands Railway (EMR) have scrapped all trains because of the strike by train drivers belonging to Aslef. The union members have stopped work in pursuit of a pay increase.

On Saturday, members of the RMT union will walk out nationwide in a separate dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions. But both train operators – which have hubs at London St Pancras International – intend to run a skeleton service between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

EMR will run hourly trains in each direction from London to Sheffield via Derby, Nottingham via Leicester and Corby via Luton airport.

There will also be hourly links from Derby to both Matlock and Nottingham, and between Sheffield and Nottingham.

Southeastern will operate high-speed services from St Pancras to Ashford, as well as shorter, slower journeys from London Bridge to Sevenoaks and to Dartford on routes via Greenwich, Blackheath and Bexley.

Simon Calder5 October 2022 15:50

Union boss urges government to ‘take shackles off’ private rail firms

Around 9,000 train drivers walked out on Wednesday as part of fresh strike action by the Aslef and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) union, leading to the cancellation of services across the country.

The strike affected the following operators: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Western, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, Transpennine Express, West Midlands Trains, Hull Trains and East Midlands Railway.

The latest strike action marks the second this week, following the biggest walkout of the year on Saturday. Another will take place on Saturday by the RMT union.

Read the full story:

Mustafa Qadri5 October 2022 15:28

Mick Lynch slams Truss’s speech

In response to Liz Truss’s speech, RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “It is ironic that trade unions are labelled the anti-growth coalition when it is the Conservative government who are cutting services, jobs and billions of pounds worth of investment from our railways.

“Unions represent the hopes and aspirations of ordinary working people across the country by winning better pay and conditions.

“Instead of maligning unions, the Prime Minister should turn her attention to the national rail dispute and help foster a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and working conditions.”

Simon Calder5 October 2022 14:27

‘A 5 per cent pay deal would cost around £280m a year – double what train operators made in 20/21’

The Rail Delivery Group has responded to union claims that private companies are making hundreds of millions in profits at the expense of taxpayers and travellers.

On Twitter, the body representing train operators said: “There is some reporting of claims made by unions that a pay deal can be funded from industry profits.

“How the railway is funded has changed. The franchise model no longer exists.

“Train operators are paid on a performance-related fixed fee basis and make a profit margin to provide service – like all other government suppliers.

“A 5 per cent pay deal across the whole industry would cost around £280m a year. That’s around double what train operators made in 20/21.

“The industry is still recovering from the pandemic. Passenger numbers remain 20 per cent below pre-covid levels. Revenue is at 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with 100 per cent of the costs.

“Reforms will help fund a pay rise and deliver a better, safer, and more affordable railway.

“Without these reforms, we simply can’t afford the pay deal we want for our people.”

Earlier Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan told The Independent: “Everybody we work for is turning over hundreds of millions of pounds.”

Simon Calder5 October 2022 13:43

Are there more train strikes in October?

With members of the Aslef and TSSA unions walking out from their rail jobs on Wednesday, many commuters and leisure travellers are enduring their second train strike in a week.

The first industrial action of the month took place on Saturday 1 October, when some 40,000 RMT members working across various roles on the UK’s railways walked out for 24 hours.

Today’s strike is not the last of the month - RMT members working for Network Rail and 14 individual train operators will also walk out this Saturday, 8 October.

A walk-out by around 5,000 railway signallers means that half the rail network will be closed, with a much-reduced service on the remainder.

Non-union members will enable a service to run between 7.30am and 6.30pm only across about half the network.

On top of this, RMT members working for ScotRail plan to strike on Monday 10 October.

Here’s everything you need to know about this month’s rail strikes:

Lucy Thackray5 October 2022 13:29

Transport secretary promises ‘more jobs and higher wages’

With many of the nation’s rail services halted by a strike by 9,000 train drivers, the new transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, has promised “more jobs and higher wages”.

Shortly after the prime minister’s speech at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Ms Trevelyan tweeted: “We're unashamedly going for growth.

“The way that all of our modes of transport are powered is changing at pace.

“That’s why we're investing record amounts in our roads, railways and future green transport solutions, so that business can grow on the back of clean transport.”

Earlier, the general secretary of Aslef, Mick Whelan, told The Independent: ”We are not seeking the last three years that we've lost, we're not looking for the two years when we had no pay [rise] during the pandemic.”

He said that the series of strikes would end “when someone talks to us”.

Simon Calder5 October 2022 13:03

Strike problems hit London travellers

The strike by members of the train drivers’ union, Aslef, is affecting many travellers in London, even though the Underground is not directly affected.

The London Overground, which normally runs a busy network through and around the capital, is closed apart from a tiny segment from Barking Riverside to Barking.

The Elizabeth line is operating normally, and is the only rail link to Heathrow airport from London Paddington. The Express service is suspended.

On the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines of the Underground, passengers are facing long delays between trains. But Transport for London says a “good service” is running.

Simon Calder5 October 2022 12:38

Train strikes cause chaos on roads, says research

With further train strikes today, research has revealed how the UK’s roads are being affected.

Ru Roberts, UK Country Manager at Waze, said: “This year’s rail strikes have consistently caused issues for drivers. Waze data shows that last Saturday’s strike alone saw an 8 per cent increase in traffic across London. Today, the workforce is also navigating school runs and daily commutes.

“Motorists faced heavy traffic this morning in areas including Central London, Manchester and Liverpool.

“We’re currently seeing bumper-to-bumper traffic throughout major thoroughfares such as the M25, A40 and M60 with reported speeds of 8 mph.

“Delays will only escalate as we approach rush hour, so drivers should take extra time to check routes before setting off.”

Helen Coffey5 October 2022 12:13

London Euston like a ‘ghost station’ as passengers turned away

“We’ve been in London for four days. We didn’t know there was a train strike on.”

Hayley and Matthew – young Canadian tourists from Penticton, British Columbia – have just arrived at London Euston station to board the 11.15am to Birmingham New Street – a train they had booked “weeks ago”.

But the terminus for trains to the West Midlands, northwest England and southern Scotland is, for the second time in five days, a ghost station.

Services are normally run by Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains. But they are two of the 13 rail firms with whom the train drivers’ union, Aslef, is in dispute, and have cancelled all their trains today.

“We weren’t notified of the strike, unfortunately,” said Matthew.

“Maybe we’ll take a bus,” said Hayley. “We’ll see what we can do anyway.”

The only Megabus departure with space available between London and Birmingham is at 11.30pm and takes four hours. But National Express has laid on extra coaches and has seats available through the afternoon and evening for around £25-£30 one way.

Simon Calder5 October 2022 11:23

Illness on the rise among rail workers, says research

As rail workers strike over pay and working conditions today, it has been revealed that staff sickness in the industry is on the rise.

GoodShape, which holds the single largest database of work-related illness and wellbeing in the UK, found that time off work for poor health in the bus and rail industry has increased 42 per cent since 2019. The estimated direct cost of this absence increased from £828m in H1 2019 to £1.3bn in H1 2022.

The first half of 2022 (1 January to 30 June) also saw 38 per cent more individual instances of mental health-related absence than in the first half of 2019.

Alun Baker, CEO of wellbeing and performance experts GoodShape, said: “The transport sector is in a state of flux, and its workers are weary. Poor mental health is a historic problem for the industry. The service’s frontline experience during the pandemic coupled with the cost-of-living crisis are pushing workers to their limit. It’s important that employers hear and understand these issues, so they can drive measurable, positive change for their people, over and above the issue of pay.”

Helen Coffey5 October 2022 11:03

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