Londoners on Wednesday suffered the first of three major rail strikes amid warnings an end to the bitter dispute is further away than ever.
Members of train drivers’ union Aslef staged their latest walk out, meaning operators such as Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, London Northwestern and Thameslink could not run services.
Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Express trains were also cancelled in middle of the half-term break.
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan warned the industrial action could drag on for years unless the Government and Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which runs 15 train companies, improved their pay offers.
He said he has not met with ministers since January 6.
“This is a Government and a group of people who do not want a resolution to this strike,” he told Sky News.
When asked how long he thought the strikes would continue, he added: “I retire in three years. I hope it’s solved by then.”
The union has been taking industrial action for 12 months and argues that its drivers have not had a pay rise in England since 2019.
They branded the four per cent wage increase on offer “unfair” when “inflation is north of 10 per cent”.
Mr Whelan said: “There are no negotiations since they came out with yet another deal that contained all 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.”
His union is due to walk out again on Saturday, when thousands of football fans will be travelling to Wembley for the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City.
The industrial action means there will be no trains from Manchester to London on the day of the match.
It will also affect more than 100,000 people travelling to the Epsom Derby as well as people going to Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour concert at Tottenham’s stadium and cricket fans travelling to watch the England v Ireland Test match at Lord’s.
Members of the RMT, which represents conductors and station staff, are set to strike on Friday.
Ministers deny they are stopping the RDG from negotiating an acceptable pay and conditions offer with the unions.
The Government has accused the unions of co-ordinated walks outs to cause maximum disruption in a half term week when many major events are taking place.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “By targeting much loved sporting events like the Cup Final and Derby, rail union leaders have conspired to inflict as much misery as possible on passengers this week.
“The Government has done our bit to try and end these disputes by meeting union leaders, listening to them, facilitating fair and reasonable offers - which RMT members working for Network Rail voted overwhelmingly to accept and are no longer striking.
“The leadership of the RMT and Aslef are blocking a similar offer being put to members working for train operating companies.
“This means, having already caused workers to miss out on almost £1800 in lost earnings so far, they’re also denying them a say on a pay increase.
“Aslef, the train drivers’ union, have been made an offer which would take their average salary up to £65,000. Sixty. Five. Thousand. Pounds.
“They refuse to let their members have a vote on this offer, which would make them even more well paid, instead pursuing more strikes.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “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.”
An RDG spokesman added: “We understand the impact of these strikes on individuals and businesses alike, and we can only apologise for this unnecessary and damaging disruption.
“While we are doing all we can to keep trains running, unfortunately there will be reduced train services between Wednesday May 31 and Saturday June 3.”
On Wednesday morning, Paddington Station, one of London’s busiest transport hubs, was called a “ghost town” as thousands of commuters were forced onto buses or to work from home.
Sylvia Lewandowska, 46, an NHS orbital prosthetist at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, had her journey to work delayed by an hour due to the strikes and had to reschedule patients.
Speaking at Paddington Station, she said: “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 can’t do anything about it.”
Traffic levels across the capital also plummeted, according to TomTom.
The level of road congestion in London at 8am was 46 per cent, down from 78 per cent a week earlier, the location technology company said.
TomTom said the decrease in congestion suggests many commuters “are choosing to work from home to avoid disruption”.
