UK rail passengers are set to face more disruption to their journeys from late January after train drivers’ union ASLEF announced a new series of strikes.
ASLEF has been locked in a long-running pay dispute with 16 train operating companies since the summer of 2022, with the latest industrial action set to take place between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February.
Unlike the strikes held by ASLEF members earlier in the dispute, drivers from different train companies will walk out on different days across the seven-day period.
Here is the full list of planned strikes:
30 January: Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink, South Western Railway and SWR Island Line
31 January: Northern Trains and Transpennine Express
2 February: Greater Anglia, C2C and LNER
3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway
5 February: Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and Chiltern
Although there will be no strikes on 1 and 4 February, ASLEF members will also refuse to work overtime shifts from 29 January to 6 February for any of the 16 rail companies.
Services in Scotland and Wales are expected to run as normal on strike days as ScotRail and Transport for Wales are not involved in this latest industrial action by ASLEF.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary said: “We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it has now been a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport. It's clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.
“The government and train operating companies must come to the table with a realistic offer so we can end this dispute and work together to ensure the future of our railways.
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, responded: “Nobody wins when strikes impact lives and livelihoods, and they're particularly difficult to justify at a time when taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54 million a week to keep services running post-Covid.
“Despite the railway's huge financial challenge, drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly £65,000 for a four-day week without overtime.
“Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on the ASLEF leadership to work with us to resolve this dispute and deliver a fair deal which both rewards our people, and makes the changes needed to make services more reliable.”