Rail strike across parts of UK
Rail passengers are facing more disruption on Saturday due to the latest strike by workers in the RMT union.
Members of the union at 14 rail companies are striking as part of a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Passengers should expect large areas of the rail network to have little or no services, National Rail has said.
The operators are based in England but some run services into Wales and Scotland.
The strike could disrupt family holiday travel with many schools across the UK on their six-week summer holidays.
Anyone travelling to the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval may also face disruption.
Members of two rail unions are currently involved in industrial action at train operating companies. The action is part of their ongoing dispute about pay and conditions.
Which lines will be affected?
On Saturday 29 July members of the RMT union are taking action at 14 rail companies:
- Avanti West Coast
- C2C
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- GTR
- Great Western Railway
- Greater Anglia
- LNER
- Northern Trains
- Southeastern
- South Western Railway
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Trains
GTR operates Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express.
Greater Anglia includes Stansted Express.
Will some trains still run on strike days?
The RMT says 20,000 of its members, including guards, train managers and station staff, will walk out.
On previous strike days there have been thousands of cancellations, with some lines not operating at all.
On lines where there have been services, they have tended to start later and finish earlier than normal.
National Rail has said passengers should expect large areas of the rail network to have little or no services and should check with the operator before travelling.
Will there be more train strikes?
Saturday’s action is the last strike in the diary at the moment.
If nothing changes, the RMT could continue to schedule more strikes until November, when it would have to re-ballot members.
Aslef, the drivers’ union, could also call further strikes in the coming months. But it hasn’t currently.
What action are train drivers taking?
Members of Aslef are taking industrial action short of a strike, in the form of an overtime ban.
Services will be disrupted by this again from Monday 31 July to Saturday 5 August.
Most train companies rely on drivers working overtime to run their full schedules.
Many train operators will reduce their service levels.
Why have railway workers been on strike?
Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living – with the inflation rate only recently having dipped below 10%.
But the rail industry is under pressure to save money, after the pandemic left a hole in its finances.
The industry says changes to ways of working need to be agreed in order for pay to go up.
But the RMT isn’t happy with some of these.
Source : BBC NEWS
