Rail passengers will be hit by strike action this weekend – with more walkouts planned for early in the new year.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and a number of train operators will down tools at 6pm on Christmas Eve and not return to work until 7am on December 27.
And they’ll also walk out on January 3, 4, 5 and 6, while train drivers in the Aslef union at 15 operators – including two which run services out of Lockerbie – will strike on January 5.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We don’t want to go on strike but the companies have pushed us into this place.
“They have not offered our members at these companies 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 per cent.
“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.”
The Aslef strike action will involve TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast, which run services through Lockerbie.
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group said: “Further strikes – on top of those already announced by the RMT – will disrupt the New Year travel plans of millions, taking even more money out of the pockets of railway staff.
“Industrial action has already cost the industry millions in lost revenue, and more strikes threaten the industry’s long-term sustainability.
“No-one wants to see this strike go ahead, and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this damaging disruption.
“We want to work with Aslef to end this dispute that is harming passengers, the industry, and their members.”
This weekend’s strike action by RMT members at Network Rail will result in train services finishing early on Christmas Eve – with both Avanti and TransPennine urging passengers only to travel if necessary.
ScotRail is not involved in the dispute but will also be affected as Network Rail is responsible for infrastructure, with no services running on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
And when trains return to operation on Tuesday, passengers are warned there will be a delay to services resuming.
ScotRail service delivery director, David Simpson, said: “It’s really disappointing to see more disruption across the whole Great Britain rail network as a result of the dispute between Network Rail and the RMT at a time when we need to be encouraging more people back to the railway.
“We know this is really frustrating for everyone impacted and we’re urging customers to plan ahead and check their entire journey in advance.”
