Train passengers warned to check before travelling as rail workers strike over pay

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Train passengers have been warned of a much-reduced service today as workers walk out in the latest round of strikes.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at 14 train operators will walk out in their long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

The strike will impact 18 different rail companies because some of the operators involved in the dispute run multiple train firms.

It is expected that nationally between 40% and 50% of train services will run on Saturday.

However, rail bosses warn there will be wide variations across the network – with the possibility of no services at all in some areas.

Services could also be disrupted on Sunday morning as a knock-on effect from Saturday’s strike action.

Football fans and families travelling to weekend leisure events will be among those affected, with passengers warned to check for schedule updates before they travel.

Steve Montgomery, who chairs the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the train operators in the dispute, said the latest round of strikes will be “a further inconvenience to our customers, who have already experienced months of disruption”.

Which rail services will be impacted?

Avanti West Coast – One train per hour will run in both directions between London Euston and each of Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. A limited service will operate to and from Glasgow.

Chiltern Railways – No trains will run north of Banbury. There will be one train per hour in both directions between London Marylebone and each of Aylesbury/Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Banbury and Oxford.

CrossCountry – No direct services will run to and from Birmingham New Street and locations such as Cambridge, Cardiff, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth and Stansted Airport.

East Midlands Railway – One train per hour will run in each direction between Leicester and each of Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield, and between London St Pancras and both Kettering and Corby. There will be the same frequency between Derby and Matlock; and between Nottingham and each of Derby, Sheffield, Mansfield Woodhouse and Grantham.

Elizabeth line – Services will start later than normal.

Gatwick Express – There will be no services but Southern will run trains between Gatwick Airport and London Bridge.

Great Northern – There will be very few trains, with no services east of Ely to King’s Lynn.

Great Western Railway – Trains will run between London Paddington and each of Bristol Parkway, Cardiff, Exeter via Bristol Temple Meads, Newbury and Oxford. The only other routes open will be between West Ealing and Greenford, Slough and Windsor, Maidenhead and Marlow, Twyford and Henley, Reading and Basingstoke, Cardiff and Westbury, and Plymouth and Newton Abbot.

Greater Anglia – Some routes will have a reduced frequency, but many will have a normal or near-normal service.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) – A limited timetable will be in operation. This includes the London King’s Cross-Edinburgh route having a total of 16 trains across both directions.

Northern – Trains will only run between Leeds and each of York, Hebden Bridge, Ilkley, Skipton, Sheffield and Bradford Forster Square, and between Darlington and Saltburn, and Liverpool and Manchester Airport.

South Western Railway – There will be a significantly reduced service and only between London Waterloo and both Hounslow and Woking, and between Basingstoke and Southampton, Guildford and Woking, and Salisbury and Basingstoke.

Southeastern – No trains will run on the vast majority of the network in Kent and East Sussex. There will be two trains per hour in each direction for most of Saturday on these lines: Bexleyheath, Bromley North, Bromley South, Sidcup and Woolwich. On the high speed line there will be two trains per hour to and from Ashford International and four per hour to and from Ebbsfleet International. On the Sevenoaks line there will be two trains per hour to and from Sevenoaks and four per hour to and from Orpington.

Southern – Due to engineering work there will be very few local stopping services in south London. No trains will serve Clapham Junction or Victoria, with most diverted to London Bridge.

Stansted Express – Services will run between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport from 7am to 11pm.

Thameslink – Services will be split north and south, with nothing running between London St Pancras and London Bridge.

TransPennine Express – A reduced timetable will operate and only on these routes: between Huddersfield and York, Manchester Airport and Preston, and Cleethorpes and Sheffield.

West Midlands Railway – A limited timetable will operate only on these routes: between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street, and between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton via local stations.

“They will also be asking why the RMT leadership blocked the chance to resolve this dispute by refusing to give their members – many of whom would have benefited from a 13% increase – a say on their own deal.”

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Warning of disruption, he added: “Unfortunately, while we will pull out all the stops to keep as many trains running as possible, there will be reduced services across many parts of the rail network on strike days, so our advice is to check before you travel.”

Saturday’s strike action comes after RMT members walked out on Thursday, while more stoppages are planned on 30 March and 1 April.

The RMT said that more than 20,000 workers will be taking strike action unless there is a negotiated settlement.

General secretary Mick Lynch said: “The private rail companies are in complete chaos, unable to make an improved offer to resolve our dispute and demonstrably failing to run the railways when we’re not on strike.

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9:09

Rail pay offer is ‘rubbish’ – RMT

“FirstGroup in particular is like an out-of-control wrecking ball, only fit to make money for its City bosses.

“Avanti and TransPennine Express are both an abject disgrace but their owners made £90m out of the railways in dividends over the last two years despite running appalling levels of service.

“The RDG need to sort themselves out and settle our dispute with an improved offer.”

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Last week, the RMT announced it had suspended separate strikes, involving Network Rail staff, in order to put a “new and improved” pay offer to its members for a vote.

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The offer amounts to an uplift on salaries of between 14.4% for the lowest paid grades to 9.2% for the highest paid, it said.

The referendum of union members will end at midday on 20 March.