There is a “deal to be done” between unions and train operators, Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has said, but stressed any agreement “will require compromise”.
Ms Trevelyan told Conservative members attending the party conference at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre that the “very last thing that the country needs right now is more damaging industrial disputes”.
On rolling strike action, she said: “The more quickly we can resolve these disputes, the sooner all our efforts can be spent on getting our economy motoring at full speed.”
To applause, she added: “We want to transform the rail industry to make it sustainable for the next hundred years, so the very last thing that the country needs right now is more damaging industrial disputes.
I want to see positive proposals to bridge those differences— Anne-Marie Trevelyan
“My message to the trade union membership is simple: please take your seats at the negotiating table and let’s find a landing zone which we can all work with. Punishing passengers and inflicting damage on our economy by striking is not the answer.
“I can tell you there is a deal to be done between the unions and our train operators, it’s a deal that will require compromise. So, I want to see positive proposals to bridge those differences.
“I am asking industry to launch consultations on reforming our ticket office provision across the country.”
After a “huge increase in online ticket sales… only 12% of transactions take place at ticket offices, so we need to be looking at ways to move with the trend”, she added
Ms Trevelyan raised road potholes, telling applauding members: “I think we all have constituents raising similar issues with all of us. That’s why we have set aside a pothole fund to repair 10 million potholes a year.”
Rail passengers will suffer fresh travel chaos on Wednesday because of another strike in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) will walk out, causing huge disruption to services.
