A new wave of train strikes has disrupted services and will affect hundreds of thousands of spectators travelling to events on Saturday such as the FA Cup final and the Epsom Derby. Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, told the PA news agency “there are no negotiations” in the bitter dispute over pay and conditions.
The Department for Transport (DfT) insisted it has “facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer” from train operators to drivers. Aslef members at 13 train companies walked out on Wednesday, meaning several operators such as Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern and Thameslink are running no trains.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has called a strike for Friday, while Aslef members will walk out again on Saturday, causing major disruption to football fans travelling to London for the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium. Hundreds of coaches are being laid on for supporters as no trains will run between Manchester and the capital on the day of the match.
Fans travelling by road from Manchester are being advised by transport bosses to take specific routes depending on which team they support, in an attempt to minimise congestion. They are also being urged to use team-specific motorway service areas.
Saturday’s strike will also affect people travelling to the annual Epsom Derby horse race at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 spectators. Many fans attending Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour concert at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the England v Ireland cricket match at Lord’s – both in London – will also be affected by the walkout.
Joining a picket line at Newcastle station on Wednesday, Mr Whelan said: “There are no negotiations since they came out with yet another deal that contained all of our ‘red lines’. If you spend months in a room, tell people things aren’t acceptable to you, then they produce a deal that contains those things, then they are setting the deal up to fail.
“That is a deliberate act on behalf of both the Government and the people that we’re dealing with. They do not apparently want a resolution.”
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Asked about the disruption caused to football supporters attending the FA Cup final, he said: “I truly don’t want to do that.”
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said around 40% of trains are running on Aslef strike days, with wide regional variations. On the RMT strike day on Friday, around 50% of normal services will run. Aslef also starts an overtime ban on Thursday that could cause disruption, especially in and out of London.
Sylvia Lewandowska, 46, an NHS orbital prosthetist at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, said her journey to work from London Paddington on Wednesday was delayed by an hour, forcing her to reschedule four appointments.
She said: “I have to wait an hour for my train, so all my patients will have to wait. Whatever the reason is for strikes, they shouldn’t affect working people who can’t change their situation.
“It’s affecting my patients because they are from different parts of the UK and many are elderly. I’ll try to work late if patients are happy to wait, but others might have other things to attend. I can’t do anything about it.”
Another delayed passenger at Paddington, Uwe Kraeker, 60, an accounts director from Freiburg, Germany, said: “I just cancelled my meeting with my colleague in Newport. I was supposed to get the train at 7.48am, but it was cancelled.
“It’s pretty frustrating. I understand people fight for better working conditions and wages, but when they strike on public transportation they take the rest of the country hostage.”
An RDG spokesman said the strikes are causing “disappointment and frustration for tens of thousands of people”, including families who have planned half-term holidays. Passengers who have bought tickets can obtain refunds if their train is cancelled or rescheduled.
The unions say they have not been given a pay offer they can recommend to their members. Officials say support for industrial action remains strong among workers as well as the public.
Aslef says train drivers have not had a pay rise for four years. Both unions claim the Government is preventing the train companies making an acceptable offer, which ministers deny.
A DfT spokesperson said: “These strikes have been co-ordinated by union leaders to disrupt passengers in a week which will see major events such as the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby and a number of concerts and festivals across the UK.
“Not content with impacting the hundreds of thousands of people who have looked forward to these events all year round, unions are also targeting their own members’ pockets by forcing them to miss out on pay every time they strike. The Government has facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer, now union leaders must do the right thing and put this to their members.”
