Supporters hoping to attend Chelsea vs Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in January are set to have their travel plans impacted as train drivers from across 15 rail companies add a further day of striking in early January. ASLEF union have confirmed that workers will initiate further strike action on January 5th, with the Blues set to take on the Premier League champions at 8pm on the same date.
The date adds to the major rail disruption taking place across the first week of January with the RMT union already planning strikes on January 3-4 and 6-7. ASLEF suggests the action will bring services on affected lines 'to a halt'.
ASLEF represents drivers from across the country with Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Northern/Thameslink, London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, SWR Island Line, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains set to be impacted.
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Five ASLEF strikes have already taken place in in 2022 and deals successful agreed with companies such as Grand Central, Eurostar, MTR Elizabeth Line and Transport for Wales, while an offer has been put forward to members from Arriva Rail London, with the recommendation to accept.
ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: "We don’t want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place. They have not offered our members at these companies a penny – and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019. That means they expect train drivers at these companies to take a real-terms pay cut – to work just as hard for considerably less – when inflation is running at north of 14%."
The Rail Delivery Group hopes to work with ASLEF to end the dispute. A spokesperson for the train operating companies said: "No one wants to see this strike go ahead, and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this damaging disruption."
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