UK train strikes 2024: London Underground drivers call off strikes but rail walkouts to go ahead

Planned strikes by London Underground drivers have been called off. Members of Aslef were due to walk out on Monday April 8 and Saturday May 4. The union announced that its negotiating team has received a proposal that addresses the main concerns in the dispute following many meetings at the Acas conciliation service.

An official said: “Management have confirmed that they have disbanded their ‘Trains Modernisation’ team and will not be implementing their plans to change drivers’ working arrangements without agreement. They have also agreed to reinstate annual refresher training stopped during the pandemic.”

Despite the cancellation by the tube workers, rail workers are still going ahead with their planned walkouts over the school holiday in a long-running pay dispute. Members of Aslef at 16 train operators will stage three one-day strikes across different train operating companies between April 5 to 8 as well as an overtime ban from Thursday April 4 to Saturday, April 6 and from Monday April 8 to Tuesday April 9, which may lead to short-notice cancellations.

Revised timetables for the strikes have been drawn up and passengers are being advised to check before they travel. There will also be changes to services across large parts of the network, with some train operators not running any services on strike days.

Train companies said they will operate as many services as possible but there will be regional variations, with some areas having no services on strike days, while those that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual – typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Aslef train drivers' strike dates:

Friday April 5: Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, and CrossCountry.

Saturday April 6: Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern, and TransPennine Express.

Monday April 8: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR’s Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern (including Gatwick Express) Southeastern, South Western Railway.