UK rail passengers returning to work this week will see their travel plans disrupted by the latest round of strikes which will largely cripple the country’s network until Sunday (8 January).
Around 40,000 members of the RMT union will walk out on 3-4 and 6-7 January, which will only allow around 20 per cent of normal services to run on these four strike days. The RMT is locked in a long-running dispute with Network Rail and 14 train operating companies over pay, conditions and jobs.
Meanwhile, members of the train drivers’ union ASLEF are also set to walk out on 5 January in a separate pay dispute, which will cause even fewer services to run on that day.
“Due to industrial action, there will be significantly reduced train services across the railway until Sunday 8 January,” said Network Rail in a statement.
“Trains will be busier and likely to start later and finish earlier, and there will be no services at all in some places.”
The RMT has accused the UK’s Department for Transport (DFT) of “blocking” a resolution to the dispute with no talks between the sides taking place over the Christmas period.
Mick Lynch, the RMT’s general secretary, said: “The government is blocking the union's attempts to reach a negotiated settlement with the rail employers.
“We have worked with the rail industry to reach successful negotiated settlements ever since privatisation in 1993, and we have achieved deals across the network in 2021 and 2022 where the DFT has no involvement.
“Yet in this dispute, there is an unprecedented level of ministerial interference, which is hamstringing rail employers from being able to negotiate a package of measures with us, so we can settle this dispute.
“We will continue our industrial action campaign while we work towards a negotiated resolution.”