Whether it was the advance warning or the fact that so many people have become accustomed to working from home, the predicted chaos at many of England’s major railways stations did not materialise during Tuesday’s strike.
Assembling their picket line outside Manchester Piccadilly station at 6am, strikers wondered if they would receive a hostile reaction from those inconvenienced. But instead of abuse they received toots of support from passing buses and taxis, while cyclists rang their bells.
“Passengers who use our railways day in, day out support us. They know that most of us are not on the inflated wages you see thrown about by rightwing commentators and newspapers,” said Clayton Clive, the RMT branch secretary for Manchester. About 950 of his 1,500 members had downed tools for the day, he said, a turnout of 63%.
Inside the normally chaotic station, calm reigned. The handful of passengers who had arrived without getting the memo were sanguine – even the couple who by 8.30am had been waiting four and a half hours for a train to Wolverhampton.
Owen Fones and his girlfriend had been on holiday in Gran Canaria; their plane had landed in the middle of the night and the couple had found themselves stranded. They caught a taxi to Piccadilly and used the station wifi to catch up on Love Island on their iPad. “I haven’t got a clue what the strike is all about but I think it’s a load of rubbish,” said Fones.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said road traffic between 6am and 9am was up 2% on previous Tuesdays – still below pre-pandemic levels. Active travel (cycling and walking) was up 5%, which TfGM said could just as easily be due to the sunny weather as the strike.
At Paddington in London, many passengers wore a look of weary resignation. John and Gail Brimson had returned from Lanzarote to Gatwick airport to find their planned 3.45am train home to Swindon cancelled. A later 8am service did not show up, so eventually they had taken a train to another London station and spent £35 on a taxi to Paddington.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said Gail. “It’s spoiled our holiday. It’s shocking, I’d understand if the strike was to help everyone with the price of food or petrol but it’s just selfish.”
Others were more supportive of the strikers. Moyra Samuels, a member of the Grenfell Community Campaign taking a coffee order for RMT demonstrators, said: “The RMT members are being extremely reasonable given the cost of living crisis. The shareholders of the rail companies are taking the profits and I want to see the workers given a rise. The government is immoral, criminal, inhumane and incompetent.”
Just seven trains an hour were due to depart from Manchester’s main station, 20% of the usual service. Battle-weary veterans of the north of England’s railway service were amused to see that the train to Preston was still managing to run late despite it being the quietest day on the network in years. Outside, the impossible had happened: there was no queue at all for Manchester’s busiest branch of Greggs.
Vinod Gadiyar, from Rochdale, was waiting for a train to London. He said he did not support any strikes – “I am a doctor; we never go on strike” – and he was happy to find an hourly service to Euston. His daughter Kiran was due to graduate from King’s College on Tuesday and he desperately wanted to be there.
“I was going to get a taxi there and back for £400, but then yesterday I found out that some trains are running so here I am,” he said. His wife had driven him to Piccadilly in record time. “Normally it takes 45 minutes, today it took just 25,” said Gadiyar.
There was none of the expected heavy traffic in the morning rush hour, with many roads in Greater Manchester quieter than ever. Even the often gnarled junctions around Stockport and the M67 towards Sheffield were flowing freely, suggesting many workers had heeded the advice to stay at home.
But not everyone can work from home. Azeta Ekekhomhen, a student from Nigeria, was bleary eyed after a night shift preparing aeroplane meals at Manchester airport. He had clocked off at 6.30am and was trying to get back to Huddersfield. Having arrived in the UK only in February, he was still learning about this country. “In Africa we thought we were the only people who strike. I was very surprised you guys go on strike too. I thought: wow, we are really in the same world.”
Birmingham New Street was also quiet. Tina Cook, who was heading to Birmingham airport from London, said she had got up at 6.30am and paid £50 for a taxi to Euston as the tube wasn’t running. The service she took from London to Birmingham normally runs twice an hour but was now running once an hour. “It wasn’t that bad really,” she said. “The train was a lot quieter than usual.”
