Train drivers strike for third time in four days leaving services at a standstill

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Due to a prolonged pay dispute, drivers have called for another strike, leading to trains coming to a complete stop on some of the most congested routes in the nation.

Travelers on trains heading towards London were amongst people who experienced a lot of inconvenience during their journey on Monday morning.

The Aslef members went on strike yet again for the third time in the last four days, causing significant disruption in transportation services, particularly in East Anglia and the South East region.

Today's events are having an impact on a number of train companies including c2c, Gatwick Express, Greater Anglia, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway, Great Northern and Thameslink.

Aslef has been involved in a disagreement over compensation for almost two years without any indication of a resolution, and no discussions have been scheduled. According to an interview with The Independent last week, Mick Whelan, the organization's general secretary, stated that the strikes in April would not be the last.

According to the union, the disagreement has resulted in the industry incurring over £2 billion in expenses, significantly higher than what it would have taken to settle the issue.

South Western Railway has announced that a limited service will be in operation on a select few routes, with the remaining network being unavailable. Trains will solely operate from 7am to 7pm.

According to Southern, trains will not be active throughout most of its system. However, there will be a restricted shuttle service that will run directly between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport without any stops.

There won't be any Thameslink trains available, except for two restricted shuttle services. One of them will stop at Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, and London St Pancras, while the other shuttle service will run non-stop between London Kings Cross and Cambridge.

The services for Great Northern and Gatwick Express will not be available. Nevertheless, Gatwick Airport will still receive the Southern shuttle services, albeit in a restricted and direct manner.

The majority of routes and stations operated by Southeastern will be shut down, as per their announcement. In cases where trains will still be operational, the service will be markedly reduced and the company urges their customers to refrain from traveling if possible.

According to a declaration, if you decide to go on a trip, be ready to experience substantial disturbance and plan meticulously beforehand, setting aside extra time for your voyage.

Trains that are currently in operation are expected to be very crowded. The train schedule has been modified with a delayed start and an earlier end time. At some stations, it may be difficult to board trains and there may be a wait of up to two hours due to the limited service. Unfortunately, out of the total of 165 Southeastern stations, only 29 will be accessible. Stations that are closed will not have rail replacement buses available.

C2C trains won't be operating. Rob Mullen, who is the managing director of C2C, expressed his disappointment stating that they were unable to reach an agreement with Aslef. He emphasized that this ongoing action is causing negative effects on their clients and employees. He also mentioned that he is optimistic that further discussions with unions will be productive and bring progress to resolving the difficulties being faced by the railway system.

Greater Anglia revealed that their earliest trains will commence at a later time than usual, and the final trains of the day will conclude earlier than their regular schedule. This change will not apply to the Stansted Express service.

Trains will frequently run on specified lines operated by Greater Anglia. These lines include Norwich/Colchester to London Liverpool Street, Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street, and Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street. Additionally, trains will run twice an hour between Cambridge and London.

There will be no Greater Anglia services running on any other routes.

Workers who belong to Aslef and are employed by 16 train operating companies will be refusing to work overtime on Monday and Tuesday. This will lead to a disruption in train services.

Protesters set up picket lines outside train stations that were impacted by the strike.

The head of Aslef, Mick Whelan, expressed that his union members are still fully supporting the strike, and he condemned the government and railway corporations for failing to communicate with them in the past 12 months.

Last year, the authorities enforced a fresh regulation to guarantee basic service standards are maintained during strikes. However, none of the railway firms have decided to adopt it yet.

A representative from the Rail Delivery Group stated that train companies are developing strategies to handle the avoidable disturbance inflicted on our commuters due to this destructive strike.

There are different ways to solve the issue, and while having minimum service levels might help, it's not a guaranteed solution. Despite this, our dedication to resolving the disagreement remains unchanged. We've put forward an offer that would increase the average driver salary to £65,000 for a four-day workweek that doesn't include overtime. This offer is still available.

According to a representative from the Department for Transport, Aslef is the sole trade union in the railways industry that is still participating in strikes. This is resulting in harm to passengers and their own members are not given the chance to vote on the proposed pay raise, which is still being considered.

After settling disagreements with all other railway unions, the Transport Secretary and rail minister have guaranteed a proposal for compensation - elevating the mean earnings of train conductors from £60,000 to £65,000.

National Express recently included numerous additional seats on their coach network throughout the UK.

The company that operates the coaches predicted they would transport more than 13 percent extra passengers during the weekend designated for the work stoppage. To meet the requirements of their clients, the organization increased the number of coach departures with approximately 100, for the most sought-after routes.

National Express UK & Ireland's customer and marketing director, Catherine Woolfe, expressed that individuals should have access to cost-effective, dependable, and environmentally friendly public transportation. Sadly, train services are still experiencing disturbances and inconsistencies.

According to our advanced reservations, there is a significant boost in the requests for coach travel this weekend, with over a 13% increase. Smart customers are opting for National Express as they offer dependable and cost-effective transportation with a confirmed seat.