Rail passengers face rolling strikes but London Underground action called off

Train commuters are getting ready for travel problems as train conductors stop some routes on the nationwide network during a series of strikes, but the planned two days of similar protests on the London Underground have been cancelled.

This coming Friday, the members of Aslef union will begin their first of three consecutive 24-hour strikes that will impact 16 rail operating companies across England. This protest is part of their dispute regarding a pay disagreement that has been ongoing for 20 months.

On Thursday, Aslef cancelled two planned tube strikes for the upcoming Monday and Saturday, which were set to last the entire day. This decision was made after they received a proposal from Transport for London that addressed the central concerns of the ongoing disagreement.

Starting on Friday, workers at Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, London Northwestern Railway, and CrossCountry will participate in a series of single-day national network strikes. As a result, all five train operators will not be offering any services on that day.

This coming Saturday, there will be strikes occurring on five different train services: Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern, and TransPennine. Then, on Monday, the train services affected will be Greater Anglia, GTR's Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern/Gatwick Express, Southeastern, South Western Railway, and SWR Island Line. As a result, all of these train services mentioned above will be cancelled on Monday.

Operators have cautioned passengers of major inconvenience as the strike days will see the majority of trains cancelled. Services during the days preceding and following the strikes may also face disruptions. Although drivers in Scotland and Wales are not participating in the strike, cross-border rail services will be disrupted.

The protests are happening at the same time as a union-enforced restriction on working overtime for all personnel. This will be in effect on the 4th through 6th of April, followed by the 8th and 9th of April. It's probable that there will be more last-minute cancelations and interruptions due to this restriction if you are travelling during these times.

A representative from Aslef has declared the London Underground strikes as cancelled. The reason being that the management has dissolved their "trains modernisation" group and will no longer proceed with their proposals of modifying the drivers' working conditions without consent. Furthermore, the management has agreed to restart the yearly training sessions that were discontinued due to the pandemic.

In the previous month, almost all of the union's members, 96%, agreed to take some action. The train operators have previously organized 13 one-day strikes since the conflict commenced back in 2022.

After the vote that took place last month, Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary, expressed that their members wholeheartedly voted for strike action - as they did in the past.

Once more, the train drivers' votes have clearly refused the absurd proposal given to them in April of the preceding year by the Rail Delivery Group, who were well aware that their offer would be declined. The offer attempted to take hold of all the terms and agreements that the train drivers have worked for throughout the years, which is something that their members would never agree to.

Aslef announced that they will continue their strike until a better pay deal is reached, as the union turned down an 8% offer earlier this year.

A representative from the Rail Delivery Group expressed regret over the current series of strikes being organized by Aslef union leaders, which may cause delays in transportation.

We're putting in a lot of effort to make sure trains keep going, and we'll collaborate with our industry buddies to keep up as many trains as conceivable. Regrettably, some services will be decreased from Thursday 4 April to Tuesday 9 April. Our suggestion is to verify your travel plans before setting off and keep an eye on the newest travel updates.

An individual from the Department for Transport stated that out of all the rail unions, Aslef is the only one that is still going on a strike. However, the transport secretary and rail minister have successfully resolved issues regarding pay with all other rail unions, and have proposed an offer. This offer will lead to an increased average salary for train drivers from £60,000 to £65,000.