Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) is set to depart on Wednesday, July 27, potentially crippling rail services across the country. The Transport Salried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) also announced a: strike by its members at Avanti West Coast on the same day.
Which companies are affected by the RMT strikes?
The companies affected by the strikes in England are: Network Rail, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast , West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express).
Will there be strikes on the London Underground?
Transport for London (TfL) said that while staff are not involved in the union action, varying degrees of disruption is expected on the District and Bakerloo Tube lines, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, all of which share some sections of the network with Network Rail.
Customers are urged to check before traveling. Passengers should also expect some disruption on the morning of July 28 with a later start of services when signaling staff return to work.
What are the strikes about?
Network Rail is implementing reforms as fewer passengers travel by train due to the pandemic. Covid has led to more people working from home.
The company says a two-year, eight-percent deal was on the table with a non-mandatory severance package and other benefits and perks, but the RMT left the talks.
Why is the RMT standout?
The RMT said there has been no change or improvement in the wage offers it has received and said the threat of redundancies and unsafe cuts of 50 percent in maintenance work had been increased.
RMT Secretary General Mick Lynch said driver-only operations and “looting” members’ terms and conditions have also been put on the table by the train operators.
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What are the consequences of the strike?
The strike will affect travelers going on holiday by train or attending events.
This includes the semi-finals of the 2022 Women’s European Championship in Milton Keynes on July 27 and the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham the following day.
Network Rail expects a “very limited” timetable to be available across the country on strike day, with about 20 percent of services and some parts of the country without rail services.
Special timetables are published, but trains start later and finish much earlier than usual. Passengers have been warned to expect inconvenience and to travel only if necessary.
Will there be more strikes after this week?
Members of the train drivers’ union Aslef at eight train operators across the country will go on strike on July 30.
More RMT strikes are also planned for August 18 and 20.