No West Midlands Trains to run today as strikes continue
Members of ASLEF are striking today
Last updated 5th Jan 2023
Strikes continue to affect rail services as train drivers from ALSLEF Union go on strike today (5th January) meaning there will be no services on any West Midlands route.
This follows days of action from Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators who staged a walkout on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Another RMT 48 hour strike will start on Friday, ending a week of travel chaos on the railways.
ASLEF's general secretary, Mick Whelan, said the union was “in it for the long haul."
He said: “We don’t want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place. They have not offered our members a penny, and these are people who have not had an increase since April 2019. That means they expect train drivers at these companies to take a real-terms pay cut – to work just as hard for considerably less – when inflation is running at north of 14%.
“The train companies say their hands have been tied by the government, while the government – which does not employ us – says it’s up to the companies to negotiate with us. We are always happy to negotiate – we never refuse to sit down at the table and talk – but these companies have offered us nothing, and that is unacceptable.”
And the West Midland's RMT organiser John Watson also believes the strikes will continue in the "long term" as he says the Government have stopped a settlement being reached.
On RMT strike days, around half of the network will shut down, with only about 20 per cent of normal services running. Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual – with services typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm on the day of the strike.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Passengers have rightly had enough of rail strikes and want the disruption to end. The government has demonstrated it is being reasonable and stands ready to facilitate a resolution to rail disputes. It’s time the unions came to the table and played their part as well.
“Inflation-matching pay increases for all public sector workers would cost everyone more in the long-term – worsening debt, fuelling inflation, and costing every household an extra £1,000. Unions should step back from this strike action so we can start 2023 by ending this damaging dispute.”
The rail companies affected today are: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Northern/Thameslink, London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, SWR Island Line, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
The advice for people is only to travel if absolutely necessary, allow extra time and check when first and last trains will depart. There may also be disruption to services on Sunday as workers return to their duties.