Rail strikes are back with a vengeance. Passengers on Avanti West Coast face months of disruption, starting on 31 December and continuing until the late May bank holiday weekend.
Train managers working for the West Coast main line operator and who belong to the RMT union will walk out on New Year’s Eve, Thursday 2 January and then every Sunday between 12 January and 25 May.
The plan is to strike on a total of 21 days, disrupting the plans of up to 100,000 passengers for each of the chosen dates.
These are the key questions and answers.
Avanti West Coast: what routes does it operate?
The main network covers around 700 miles of track. It centres on the West Coast main line to and from London Euston. The main cities served are:
Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston, Carlisle and Edinburgh are among the other cities on the network.
In addition, Avanti West Coast runs along the North Wales coast, connecting Crewe with the port of Holyhead.
What is the dispute about?
Payments to train managers for working on their rest days. Originally strikes were called for 22, 23 and 29 December. Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, said at time: “The current arrangements are unacceptable. Train managers are being treated unfairly compared to senior managers, who receive significant payments for covering these roles.”
This is a reference to the sums earned by management train managers. These are senior managers employed in desk-based roles for Avanti West Coast, who have been trained to stand in as train managers when essential to keep trains running.
Train managers have been offered around £250 for each eight-hour shift worked on a rest day, or £300 at weekends.
The union says management train managers earn upwards of £300.
For comparison, train drivers employed by Avanti earn a flat £600 for working on a day off.
Mr Lynch continued: “Our members have had enough, and this strike action demonstrates their determination to win a fair deal.
“It’s time for Avanti to put forward serious proposals that reflect the vital contribution of our train managers to the railway.”
An improved offer from the rail firm was put to union members, but in a referendum they resoundingly rejected it; seven out of 10 of all those eligible to vote were in favour of walking out.
An RMT spokesperson said: “Our members have resoundingly rejected Avanti’s latest offers in two referendums and sustained strike action is now the only way to focus management’s minds on reaching a negotiated settlement with the union.”
What does Avanti West Coast say?
“This strike action will cause significant disruption to our customers making journeys on the West Coast Main Line over an extended period.
“We’re disappointed our train managers who are RMT members have voted to decline the very reasonable, revised offer made to them to resolve the rest day working dispute and avoid inconveniencing our customers.
“We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”
What will the effect be?
Avanti West Coast says: “To minimise the number of people disrupted, we’ve suspended ticket sales for [the strike] dates. We’ll share travel advice, refund information and ticket options as soon as these are finalised.”
Anyone with an Advance ticket for a strike day is likely to be able to use it on the day before or after planned date, or obtain a full refund.
In previous RMT strikes, Avanti West Coast has run roughly 25-30 per cent of the normal schedule.
On most strike days, the company operates a skeleton service. On the core routes linking London with Birmingham and Manchester, typically one train an hour will run – compared with the normal three-per-hour schedule. Hourly trains will also run to Liverpool via Crewe (except on 2 January, when the line through Crewe is closed), with less frequent services via Preston and Carlisle to Glasgow.
Management train managers are deployed to run these trains. But most of the coming wave of strikes coincide with Network Rail engineering work with diversions on some days. Management train managers may not have sufficient route knowledge to operate on these temporary roads.
For example, on the second day of strikes, Thursday 2 January, the main line from London to Glasgow is closed between Crewe and Warrington. Services were due to travel via Manchester, but Avanti is now having to revisit plans as they will be reliant on management train managers.
Thousands of football fans planning to go to away games will be unable to travel by train.
On Sunday 12 January, for example, Manchester United supporters will encounter problems travelling to Arsenal’s north London ground for the FA Cup third round fixture, while Stockport County fans will find it difficult to reach Crystal Palace in south London.
The following Sunday, Everton host Spurs and Manchester United play Brighton at Old Trafford.
Later in the month, the 26 January strike will coincide with the closure of the East Coast main line from Edinburgh via Newcastle and York to London King’s Cross, meaning both Anglo-Scottish routes will be out of action for the day.
Wasn’t the government going to end rail strikes?
Yes. The first Labour transport secretary, Louise Haigh, vowed to “focus relentlessly” on improving performance on the railways and introduce “much-needed rail reform”.
Train drivers, who had been in a pay dispute for two years, received a 15 per cent settlement – covering three years – and ended their dispute.
Ms Haigh has since been replaced at the Department for Transport (DfT) after details of a fraud conviction some years ago came to light. Her successor is Heidi Alexander.
After the strike call, a DfT spokesperson said: “This is incredibly disappointing news for passengers who would have been hoping to leave strike action in 2024.
“We strongly encourage both the RMT and Avanti West Coast to get back around the table and work in good faith to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
Any deal will be signed off by the DfT.
The spokesperson added: “As part of our plans to reform the railways, we’re determined to move towards a seven-day working week and end the over-reliance on rest day working, giving passengers the certainty and reliability they deserve.”
The RMT, meanwhile, has the stated objective to “work for the supersession of the capitalist system by a socialistic order of society”.
Shouldn’t Avanti West Coast and other train firms just employ more staff?
If any rail firm increased its workforce to cover all possible shortfalls caused by illness, annual leave and training requirements, many of those staff would be under-employed for much of the year.
Rail finances are in a terrible mess, with taxpayers currently paying a subsidy of £12.5bn annually, equivalent to £400 per second, to keep the trains running. Unless revenue can rise substantially – which is unlikely given the continuing unreliability of trains – it is more likely that jobs will be cut than increased.
One rail insider said they were “baffled” by the dispute, adding: “There’s no shortage of volunteer train managers at the current rates of pay. So obviously ‘the market’ can’t see a problem.” They added: “The RMT looks as though it is spoiling for a fight.”
The Independent has asked the RMT for a response.
Anything else for rail passengers to worry about?
Also on 31 December on London’s Elizabeth Line, RMT members working in the control room will stage a 24-hour strike on the main east-west route through the capital, beginning at 9pm on New Year’s Eve.
Several other RMT disputes are in progress. Votes in favour of strike action have been passed in disputes on Boxing Day payments for service control staff on London Underground and on annual leave entitlement for Avanti West Coast train managers based at Holyhead.
