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Image source, PA Media
By Katy Austin
Transport correspondent
Rail passengers are being warned of disruption for the next six days, due to an overtime ban by train drivers in the Aslef union.
Sixteen train companies based in England will be hit from Monday until Saturday. Many will reduce their service levels.
It is the latest move in Aslef's long-running pay dispute. Strikes by other rail workers in the RMT union are set to take place later this month.
Passengers are being advised to check before they travel.
Most train companies rely on drivers working overtime to run their full schedules.
Among the disruption expected:
- South Western Railway says it will run a reduced timetable with some first and last trains cancelled. Its services are likely to be busier than usual, and customers heading to the Wimbledon tennis championships are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys
- Northern is advising passengers to expect some services to start later and finish earlier than usual, as well as short-notice cancellations
- Great Western Railway expects some short-notice alterations or cancellations, and says its Night Riviera Sleeper service will not run in either direction until Sunday
- Chiltern Railways is warning customers only to travel if absolutely essential on Saturday. Its trains will not stop at the station by Wembley Stadium, which is hosting a concert by Blur.
Last month, Aslef members at 10 operators backed further strike action, meaning it could last for another six months if there's no settlement.
The union has already rejected proposals that would have seen pay rise by 4% two years in a row, bringing drivers' average pay to £65,000.
This would have been contingent on changes to working practices, which the employers and government - who dictate what is under discussion in talks - say are needed to cut costs and modernise how the railway runs.
Aslef argues members should not have to sacrifice working conditions in return for a below inflation wage increase.
Ticket office closures
Aslef does not have any further strikes planned at present.
But workers such as train guards in the RMT union are expected to walk out on 20, 22 and 29 July in their dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.
It has now lasted over a year. With no resolution in sight, the train companies are preparing to move ahead with plans to close hundreds of ticket offices.
The Rail Delivery Group said only 12% of tickets were now sold at station kiosks. Its spokesperson said under proposed changes staff would be moved on to concourses to help and advise more customers. They added that employees and the public would be consulted about any changes.
But RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said earlier this week his union would not "meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result".
The union suggested it could take further industrial action over the issue.
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