Rail workers union TSSA is planning to hold a nationwide strike for 24 hours on 26-27 September in an ongoing dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
TSSA members will walk out at nine UK train operating companies and Network Rail from noon on 26 September until noon on 27 September.
The affected train companies are: TransPennine Express, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, LNER and Southeastern.
If next month’s TSSA strike goes ahead, it will be yet another day of disruption for rail passengers in the UK - fellow rail unions RMT and Aslef have also held their own stoppages over the summer months in similar disputes about pay and jobs.
TSSA said it “remains in talks” with Network Rail about the possibility of reaching a deal and general secretary Manuel Cortes has also written to transport secretary Grant Shapps in a bid to help resolve the dispute.
“The dead hand of Grant Shapps is sadly stopping DfT (Department for Transport) train operating companies from making a revised, meaningful offer,” said Cortes.
“Frankly, he either sits across the negotiating table with our union or gets out of the way to allow railway bosses to freely negotiate with us, as they have done in the past.
"I welcome the fact that negotiations are ongoing with Network Rail and the gap towards a resolution is narrowing. Time will tell whether a deal can be done to avert our next strike.”
TSSA members at TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains last week voted to take strike action.