Train strikes: Disruption expected as rail workers walk out

Members of the RMT national astatine 14 obstruction companies are striking connected Thursday arsenic portion of a long-running quality implicit pay, jobs and conditions.

Passengers should expect ample areas of the obstruction web to person small oregon nary services, National Rail said.

The operators are based successful England but immoderate tally services into Wales and Scotland.

In addition, bid drivers successful the Aslef national are not moving overtime astatine 15 bid companies betwixt 17 and 22 July.

The grade of Thursday's RMT disruption volition alteration astir the country, with immoderate services starting precocious and finishing overmuch earlier than normal.

There volition beryllium further strikes connected 22 and 29 July.

Aslef's action, which volition tally until Saturday, is not a afloat onslaught but could origin immoderate reduced timetables and last-minute cancellations.

Meanwhile, obstruction users person sent successful 100,000 responses to a consultation implicit projected summons bureau closures successful England.

The plans, which person faced criticism, are the latest flashpoint for bid operators, which are besides successful a deadlocked quality with unions implicit reforms.

Following the interaction of the Covid pandemic, the manufacture faces unit from the authorities to chopped costs.

The latest proposals presented by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents bid operators, included a backdated wage emergence of 5%, followed by 4% this year.

This was successful speech for changes to moving practices to beryllium discussed with idiosyncratic operators.

The quality reached an impasse erstwhile the RMT rejected the connection successful April. The RDG continues to telephone connected the national to springiness its members a ballot connected the offer.

RMT brag Mick Lynch said "there are conditions successful this connection that we can't unrecorded with", and ministers had not granted the operators support to negociate further.

But RDG brag Jacqueline Starr said the existing "very good" connection remained connected the table, and the RDG was "very unfastened to continuing conversations".

She added that the manufacture "can't spend for the manufacture to basal still", and would "continue with reform".

Train firms are pressing up with plans to adjacent the bulk of summons offices successful England.

The plans person faced disapproval from disablement campaigners and unions which are trying to artifact the reforms.

The Transport Focus watchdog called the effect to its consultation, which is moving until Wednesday 26 July, "huge" truthful far.

However, it said it was excessively soon to accidental whether the responses were mostly for oregon against the projected closures.

Five Labour mayors are preparing a ineligible challenge, saying the 21-day timescale for the consultation was "totally inadequate".

Under the proposals, immoderate summons kiosks would stay successful ample stations, but elsewhere unit volition beryllium connected concourses to merchantability tickets, connection question proposal and assistance radical with accessibility.

However, Mr Lynch said that immoderate stations would "only get unit for 2 hours, truthful if you're an aged idiosyncratic travelling off-peak, determination volition beryllium no-one determination to assistance you".

He added that 2,300 presumption unit are "not being moved from down solid to assistance passengers" but alternatively would beryllium made redundant "en masse".

Last week, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle challenged obstruction curate Huw Merriman implicit the planned closures.

Mr Merriman had said "no presently staffed presumption volition go unstaffed" arsenic a effect of the proposals.

But Mr Hoyle said the railway presumption successful his constituency, Chorley, would efficaciously go unstaffed aft 4pm.

Ms Starr said connected Wednesday that the planned closures were "about radical bringing radical retired from down the solid screens".

Staff would beryllium "on the concourse, enabling a speech with customers, enabling them to assistance customers, person a dialogue, and also, erstwhile necessary, helping customers to navigate the summons vending machines which would beryllium connected the platform," she said.

Ms Starr insisted the manufacture was "genuinely listening to the accessibility groups that person a fig of concerns", and she was having meetings with the obstruction curate and disablement groups.

When asked by the BBC connected Wednesday if she would committedness that each summons presently disposable astatine summons offices could beryllium recovered connected astatine a instrumentality oregon online, including the slightest expensive, Ms Starr replied: "I'm not going to marque promises that I can't keep."

She added: "We are moving hard to guarantee that wherever possible, each summons is offered by a summons vending machine".

Campaigner Natasha Winter, who acceptable up the Save Stourbridge Ticket Office group, said erstwhile she recovered retired astir the consultation connected the summons bureau closures she was "absolutely outraged".

"We're talking astir punishing and penalising the members of nine who possibly can't usage caller technology," she said.

"The presumption is going to go little user-friendly for the full community," she added.