Rail strikes: Train drivers at 16 different companies to stage fresh strikes over bank holiday weekend

Rail strikes are set to hit the May bank holiday weekend as train drivers at 16 different companies have voted to stage a walkout.

Aslef members will strike on May 7, 8, and 9, with an overtime ban in place from May 6. It comes as the union said that it had not met employers or the government for the past year, accusing ministers of “giving up” on attempting to end the almost two-year pay dispute.

Drivers will walkout at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway on May 7. On May 8 there will be strikes at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains. Aslef members at LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express will strike on May 9. General secretary Mick Whelan said: “It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected. We first balloted for industrial action in June 2022, after three years without a pay rise. It took eight one-day strikes to persuade the train operating companies (Tocs) to come to the table and talk.

“Our negotiating team met the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on eight occasions – the last being on Wednesday April 26 last year. That was followed by the Tocs’ ‘land grab’ for all our terms & conditions on Thursday April 27 – which was immediately rejected.

“Since then train drivers have voted, again and again, to take action to get a pay rise. That’s why Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members. Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable.”

Aslef said that some train drivers had not received a pay rise in five year, after their last pay deal expired in 2019. It added that after its members had overwhelmingly voted in favour of further strike action in February, the union had requested talks with the bosses.