THE ONGOING dispute on the railways means rail companies are warning passengers that disruption will continue across this week, and journeys should be checked before travelling.
Members of the TSSA union will down tools from noon on Wednesday, December 28 for 24 hours, while an ongoing ‘action short of a strike’ – essentially an overtime ban –will run on Great Western Railway routes until January 8, and South Western Railway routes until March 8.
Nadine Rae, TSSA Organising Director, said: “No-one wants to be on strike, especially over Christmas, but the government has left rail workers with no other choice as a result of their anti-worker agenda blocking talks.
“Our members at CrossCountry, GWR and WMT are fed up with being taken for granted. The recent offer made by employers didn’t even cover huge numbers of workers at these – and other – train companies.
“The cost-of-living crisis is crippling household finances on top of years of pay freezes. We hope that the government makes a New Year’s Resolution to give employers a free hand to negotiate a deal which meets our aspirations and resolves this dispute.”
Members of the RMT union is partly due to workers’ concerns over proposed changes to working conditions which they feel would be unsafe to the public if they were go ahead. This includes a proposal to close all ticket offices.
And they are accusing the government of failing to negotiate.
Its general secretary, Mick Lynch, said the RMT was available for talks.
“But until the government gives the rail industry a mandate to come to a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and condition of work, our industrial campaign will continue into the new year, if necessary.”
This week, Network Rail RMT members are on strike until Tuesday, December 27. This targets engineering works.
There will be further strikes affecting Great Western and South Western railway services on Tuesday, January 3, Wednesday, January 4, Friday, January 6, and Saturday, January 7.
Great Western Railway said as a result, there could be short-notice cancellations of services, especially to late-night trains. New Year’s Eve could see an earlier than usual shutdown.
The company will start services later on Tuesday, December 27, and a reduced and revised timetable will operate. Planned engineering work will also affect some routes.
Trains will be disrupted on Wednesday and Thursday, with a significantly reduced level of service.
And next week, passengers are advised to travel only if necessary on strike days, with some parts of the Great Western network having no service at all. Services start at 7.30pm, with all journeys ending at 6.30pm.
There will be further disruption on Sunday, January 8.
GWR says passengers should find alternative transport. Where services are running, customers should only travel by train if absolutely necessary, and it is highly recommended that a seat reservation is made as operating trains are expected to be extremely busy.
Customers who have already purchased tickets for strike days can claim a full refund or amend their ticket; those who travel and are delayed may be entitled to Delay Repay compensation if they are delayed by 15 minutes or more.
To help customers, tickets will be valid for travel on alternative days on GWR services as follows:
Tickets for December 27 can be used the day before (where applicable), or up to and including Thursday, December 29,
Tickets for January 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 can be used the day before, or up to and including Tuesday, January 10.
Season-ticket holders can apply for compensation through the Delay Repay scheme.
For more detailed information, including when journey planners will be updated with the latest train times, please visit www.gwr.com/strike.
