Train strikes: Rail workers told pay rises can't match inflation

Pay rises that lucifer the surging outgo of surviving volition not beryllium possible, the caller transport curate has told striking obstruction workers

Mark Harper said helium "completely understands" wherefore unions privation inflation-linked wage increases but said "economic circumstances" prevented it.

It came arsenic helium agreed to assistance unions to effort to scope a woody with bid firms up of caller strikes this Christmas.

RMT national brag Mick Lynch called their gathering "positive".

Mr Harper's 2 predecessors had refused to get progressive successful the dispute, though the curate said it was not his relation to bash the "detailed negotiations".

"I bash judge I person a relation successful this process, which is to effort to promote the 2 sides to travel to an statement and besides to marque definite there's a escaped travel of accusation and the process moves on arsenic rapidly arsenic we can," helium told the BBC.

Passengers person been told to expect large disruption aft the RMT said it would signifier 4 48-hour strikes adjacent period successful a quality implicit occupation security, wage and conditions.

Some 40,000 workers volition locomotion retired connected 13-14 and 16-17 December, and 3-4 and 6-7 January, with delays and cancellations expected connected the days astir the strikes arsenic well.

The walkouts are expected to deed radical travelling for Christmas, with the pub manufacture informing it could ruin their busiest week of the year.

The RMT, which has staged 8 strikes since June, claims obstruction operating companies and Network Rail - which manages the way - are not negotiating successful bully faith.

But Mr Harper has present agreed to assistance some sides travel backmost to the array and volition constitute to Mr Lynch mounting retired the presumption nether which talks tin instrumentality place.

Mr Harper said determination was a "shared agreement" that the quality had gone connected for excessively long, but would not perpetrate to offering much authorities wealth to assistance resoluteness the dispute.

Instead helium maintained that manufacture betterment was needed to present the savings which would alteration a "reasonable wage rise" for staff.

He added that an summation which matched ostentation was "not deliverable", owed to the different pressures the authorities was facing.

Inflation - the complaint astatine which prices emergence - is presently astatine a 41-year precocious of 11.1% arsenic the warfare successful Ukraine drives up vigor and nutrient prices.

Mr Harper said: "Being realistic, it is not going to lucifer the level of inflation, I deliberation radical request to recognize that and determination needs to beryllium immoderate realism successful this process.

"But to beryllium just I deliberation determination is realism successful this process from some the commercialized unions and employers, and I anticipation we tin resoluteness the quality arsenic accelerated arsenic we tin earlier Christmas."

Mr Lynch told reporters the gathering was "positive successful the consciousness we person got escaped of the bellicose nonsense we had from [former transport secretary] Grant Shapps and his cohort successful his epoch and we're present starting to get a dialogue".

He added: "You've heard [Mr Harper] accidental he's going to beryllium a facilitator towards a colony oregon solution of the dispute. And we've said it's nary bully america having these lukewarm words, we've had them from his [immediate] predecessor Anne-Marie Trevelyan, but thing really happened."

He added the quality present needed "pace" to beryllium resolved.

"I'm definite the travelling nationalist and the businesses astir the state and the economy, privation to spot this quality settled successful a due way."