Britain's trains will grind to a halt once again next week as a series of rail strikes will see 40,000 workers down tools for 24 hours, it has been confirmed.
Brits face more travel misery as the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) press ahead with industrial action on Wednesday, July 27.
It comes after the union failed to secure a breakthrough in talks over pay, jobs and conditions.
Workers from Network Rail and 14 train firms will take part in the strike.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) has also announced a strike by its members at Avanti West Coast on the same day.
Meanwhile, train drivers at eight rail companies will take part in a strike organised by Aslef union on July 30.
It means next week will herald the second big series of rail walkouts of the summer.
Commenting on the July 27 action, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Strike action will take place next Wednesday as planned and our members are more determined than ever to secure a decent pay rise, job security and good working conditions.
“Network Rail have not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train companies have not offered us anything new.
“In fact Network Rail have upped the ante, threatening to impose compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50% cuts to maintenance work if we did not withdraw our planned strike action.
“The train operating companies have put driver-only operations on the table along with ransacking our members’ terms and conditions.
“RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith but we will not be bullied or cajoled by anyone.
“The Government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us.”
Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s lead negotiator, said: “Once again the RMT Executive has walked away from ongoing and constructive talks that could have avoided next week’s strike.
"It’s now abundantly clear that their political campaign is taking precedence over representing their members’ interests.
“A two-year, 8% deal with a no-compulsory-redundancy guarantee and other benefits and extras was on the table and they have walked away without giving their members a voice or a choice.
“Our door remains open to try and avert this pointless action that will cost strikers dear. We will now consider how we will move forward with our reform plans despite the RMT obstinacy.”
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “Sadly, these RMT strikes will upset passengers’ summer plans, undermine businesses and upend the industry’s recovery, making it more difficult to fund a settlement.
“We want to give our people an increase in pay, but we have a responsibility to do that by making reasonable changes to long outdated working practices – already successfully introduced in some parts of the network – which will improve punctuality, reliability and passenger experience.
“The alternative is to ask passengers to pay more when they too are feeling the squeeze, or asking the taxpayer to contribute even more towards the running of the railway on top of the record amounts spent keeping trains running during the pandemic and with revenue still 20% down on pre-Covid levels. Neither of those options is fair.
“Rather than going ahead with these counterproductive strikes, we ask the RMT’s leadership to continue talking so we can come to a deal that works for our people, our passengers and for taxpayers.”
The firms hit by the RMT walkout will be:
- Chiltern Railways
- Cross Country Trains
- Thameslink
- Greater Anglia
- LNER
- East Midlands Railway
- C2c
- Great Western Railway
- Northern Trains
- South Eastern
- South Western Railway
- Transpennine Express
- Avanti West Coast
- West Midlands Trains
The firms hit by the Aslef strike on July 30 will be:
- Arriva Rail London
- Chiltern Railways
- Greater Anglia
- Great Western
- Hull Trains
- LNER
- Southeastern
- West Midlands Trains
Transport for London (TfL) said while the industrial action on July 27 does not involve its staff, varying degrees of disruption are expected on the District and Bakerloo Tube lines, London Overground, and the Elizabeth line, which all share some sections of track with Network Rail.
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Passengers should also expect some disruption on the morning of July 28 with a later start to services as signalling staff return to work.
Andy Lord, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “The upcoming strike action will mean disruption for some of our customers, with the London Overground, Elizabeth line, and London Underground services being affected.
“I encourage customers to check before they travel as the levels of service will vary on different modes of transport and different days. Alternative travel, including buses and other Tube lines, is likely to be much busier than usual.”
