Train drivers at 12 companies have announced the dates for two more days of strike action in a row over pay and conditions.
Members of ASLEF, the trade union representing 96% of drivers in England, Scotland and Wales, have voted to take action. Strike days are now planned for Saturday, October 1 and Wednesday, October 5.
Companies affected include Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
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Drivers have walked out for 24 hours twice this year - on Saturday, July 30 and Saturday, August 13 but a resolution has still yet to be found. Strikes were initially set to take place on Thursday, September 15, but action was immediately postponed out of respect for Queen Elizabeth after her death a week earlier and no further public announcement was made until after the state funeral took place this Monday.
ASLEF have successfully negotiated pay deals with nine train companies, including Merseyrail, this year but are still pushing for changes from the 12 companies which they say have "failed to offer their drivers anything."
ASLEF’s general secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “We would much rather not be in this position. We don’t want to go on strike – withdrawing your labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for this trade union – but the train companies have been determined to force our hand.
“With inflation now running at 12.3% – and set, it is said, to go higher – these companies are saying that drivers should be prepared to work just as hard, for just as long, but for considerably less."
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