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Rail strikes are back with a vengeance. Passengers on Forward West Coast are facing months of downtime, starting on the 31st December and continues through the late May bank holiday weekend.
Train Managers working for a major operator on the West Coast and belonging RMT the union will walk out on New Year’s Eve, Thursday January 2, and then every Sunday between January 12 and May 25.
The plan is to hit a total of 21 days, disrupting the plans of up to 100,000 passengers for each of the selected dates.
These are the key questions and answers.
Avanti West Coast: on which routes does it operate?
The main network covers around 700 miles of track. It is on the main West Coast line to and from London Euston. The main cities served are:
- Birmingham
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Glasgow
Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston, Carlisle and Edinburgh are among other cities online.
In addition, the Avanti West Coast runs along the coast of North Wales, connecting Crewe with the port of Holyhead.
What is the dispute about?
Payments to training managers for working on rest days. Originally, the strikes were scheduled for December 22, 23 and 29. Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, said at the time: “The current arrangements are unacceptable. Train managers are treated unfairly compared to senior managers, who receive substantial payments to cover these roles.”
This is a reference to the sums earned by “training managers”. These are senior managers employed in Avanti West Coast offices, who are trained to be train managers when necessary for train maintenance.
Train drivers were offered around £250 for each eight-hour shift worked on a day offor £300 at weekends.
The union says management training managers earn more than £300.
By comparison, train drivers employed by Avanta earn a flat £600 for working on a day off.
Mr Lynch continued: “Our members have had enough and this strike action shows their determination to get a fair deal.
“It is time for Avanti to come forward with serious proposals that reflect the vital contribution our train drivers make to the railway.”
Union members were given an improved offer from the railway company, but they decisively rejected it in a referendum; seven out of 10 of those who had the right to vote were in favor of leaving.
An RMT spokesman said: “Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums and continued strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching an agreement with the union.”
What does Avanti West Coast say?
“This strike action will cause significant disruption to our customers traveling on the West Coast Main Line for an extended period.
“We are disappointed that our train managers who are members of the RMT have voted to reject the very reasonable, revised offer that was made to them to resolve the working day dispute and avoid inconvenience to our customers.
“We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”
What does the government say?
Following the strike call, a spokesman for the Department for Transport (DfT) said: “This is incredibly disappointing news for passengers who had hoped to walk away from strike action in 2024.”
Transportation Secretary Heidi Alexander has put the ball firmly in the rail company’s court. She told Sky News: “What I want to see is for the management of Avanti West Coast, which is currently a privately owned rail company, to get back around the table with the RMT to see what can be done to avoid action. ”
In other words, offer more money. Ultimately, though, the additional payments would be funded by taxpayers.
What will be the effect?
Avanti West Coast says: “To reduce the number of people being cut off, we have suspended ticket sales for [the strike] dates. We will share travel advice, refund information and ticket options as soon as this is finalised.”
Anyone with an advance ticket for the day of the strike is likely to be able to use it the day before or after the planned date or receive a full refund.
For the first two days of the strike, December 31 and January 2, a significantly reduced timetable is in place – with fewer services operating during limited hours. The first train of the day will leave Euston at around 8am and the last train of the day before 5pm.
Management Train Managers are assigned to manage these trains. But much of the coming wave of strikes coincides with Network Rail engineering work being diverted on some days. Operating train drivers may not have sufficient knowledge of the routes to operate on these temporary tracks.
On Tuesday 31 December, Avanti West Coast will run one train per hour between Euston and Birmingham, Manchester and Preston with limited services to Glasgow. One train every other hour between Liverpool and Crewe will also run.
On Thursday 2 January, the intercity operator will run one train per hour between Euston and each of Wolverhampton (via Birmingham), Crewe and Manchester. There will also be a limited service between Glasgow and Preston.
North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh will not have Avanti West Coast services on strike days. There will be no Avanti West Coast trains to or from Macclesfield on 31 December. There will be no Avanti West Coast services to or from Warrington Bank Quay or Wigan North Western on 2nd January.
“With fewer services running during the reduced hours, trains are expected to be busy and customers are strongly advised to travel either side of the day of the strike,” Avanti West Coast says.
“Travelling customers should plan ahead, expect disruption and check details of their last train home.”
Passengers with existing tickets for 31 December and 2 January can travel any time from Monday 30 December to and including Saturday 4 January. Alternatively, if customers who booked tickets to travel on either side of the strike days before industrial action was announced (17 December) would rather not travel, they can request a full refund without charge at the point of purchase.
Thousands of football fans who plan to go to away games will not be able to travel by train.
On Sunday, January 12, for example, Manchester United fans will face problems traveling to Arsenal’s ground in north London for an FA Cup third-round tie, while Stockport County fans will struggle to get to Crystal Palace in south London.
Next Sunday, Everton host Spurs and Manchester United play Brighton at Old Trafford.
Later in the month, the strike on January 26 will coincide with the closure of the East Coast Main Line from Edinburgh via Newcastle and York to London King’s Cross, meaning both Anglo-Scottish routes will be out of service for the day.
Will the government not end the railway strikes?
Yes. Labor’s first transport secretary, Louise Haigh, vowed to focus “relentlessly” on improving rail performance and introduce “much-needed rail reform”.
The train drivers, who had been in a two-year wage dispute, received a 15 percent settlement – covering three years – and ended their dispute. Ms Haigh has since been replaced by Heidi Alexander.
A DfT spokesman said: “As part of our rail reform plans, we are determined to move to a seven-day working week and end the over-reliance on day off work, giving passengers the safety and reliability they deserve.”
The RMT, meanwhile, has a stated goal of “working to replace the capitalist system with a socialist order of society.”
Shouldn’t Avanti West Coast and other rail companies just hire more staff?
If any railway company were to increase their workforce to cover all possible shortfalls caused by sickness, holiday and training requirements, many of these staff would be underemployed for much of the year.
Rail finances are in a terrible mess, with taxpayers currently paying a subsidy of £12.5 billion a year, the equivalent of £400 a second, to keep the trains running. Unless revenue can rise significantly—which is unlikely given the continued unreliability of trains—jobs are more likely to decrease than increase.
One rail insider said they had “confused” the dispute, adding: “There is no shortage of volunteer train managers at the current rates of pay. So apparently the ‘market’ doesn’t see the problem.” They added: “RMT looks like it’s spoiling for a fight.”
The Independent requested a response from the RMT.
Is there anything else rail travelers should be concerned about?
Also on December 31 on London’s Elizabeth line, RMT control room members will stage a 24-hour strike on the main east-west route through the capital, starting at 9pm on New Year’s Eve.
Several other RMT disputes are ongoing. The strike votes were passed in disputes over Boxing Day pay for London Underground service control staff and holiday entitlements for Holyhead-based Avanti West Coast train managers.