UK rail passengers are set to face further disruption to services after Easter due to a new series of “rolling” strikes.
Train drivers’ union ASLEF has announced the latest industrial action affecting 16 UK train operating companies from 5-8 April. The strikes are part of a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.
ASLEF members will also refuse to work on their rest days between 4-6 April and then 8-9 April, which will further disrupt UK train services.
This series of one-day strikes will affect the following train operators on these dates:
5 April: Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains and CrossCountry
6 April: Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern and TransPennine
8 April: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway and SWR Island Line
ASLEF’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: “Our members voted overwhelmingly – yet again – for strike action. Those votes show – yet again – a clear rejection by train drivers of the ridiculous offer put to us in April last year by the Rail Delivery Group which knew that offer would be rejected because a land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiated over the years would never be accepted by our members.”
The current dispute has seen ASLEF hold 14 one-day strikes since July 2022 and most recently the union staged a series of “staggered” walkouts affecting different train operators on different days.
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the train companies, said: "Nobody wins when industrial action impacts people's lives and livelihoods, and we will work hard to minimise any disruption to our passengers.
“We want to resolve this dispute, but the ASLEF leadership need to recognise that hard-pressed taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54 million a week just to keep services running post-Covid. We continue to seek an agreement with the ASLEF leadership and remain open to talks to find a solution to this dispute."
ASLEF has also announced two one-day strikes on the London Underground network on 8 April and 4 May as part of a separate dispute.