May train strikes: Dates and services affected
Huge disruption is expected across the UK from National Rail strikes this week – Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images
Trains on some of the busiest commuter routes in the country will not run on Tuesday and stations will be closed because of rail strikes announced by train drivers in a long-running pay dispute.
Train drivers at 16 rail companies are staging a fresh wave of strikes, disrupting travel this week.
The walkouts are the latest in a series of strikes carried out by the Aslef union in a row now spanning nearly two years.
The union said it had not met employers or the Government for more than a year, accusing ministers of “giving up” trying to resolve the dispute.
Here is everything you need to know about the National Rail strikes.
When and where will the strikes take place?
Members of Aslef will walk out from Tuesday, May 7 to Thursday, May 9 at different operators and ban overtime for six days from the bank holiday Monday, May 6.
May 7: Drivers will strike at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway.
May 8: There will be rail strikes at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.
May 9: Aslef members at LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express will strike.
Which train lines will be affected?
On Tuesday, May 7:
No Southern services will run apart from a limited shuttle non-stop between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.
No Thameslink trains will run apart from a limited shuttle calling at Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras and another limited service between London Kings Cross and Cambridge.
No Gatwick Express or Great Northern trains will run.
South Western Railway (SWR) advises passengers to only travel if absolutely necessary. An extremely limited service will run on a limited number of lines.
SWR said large parts of its network will be closed and trains will only run between:
- Basingstoke and Salisbury
- London Waterloo and Basingstoke
- London Waterloo and Feltham via Twickenham
- London Waterloo and Guildford via Woking
- London Waterloo and Woking
- There will be no service on the Island Line
Southeastern said most of its stations and routes will be closed with only an extremely limited service where trains do run.
No c2c trains will run.
Greater Anglia said it will be running reduced train service on a small number of routes into London for fewer hours of the day in the following areas:
- Norwich/Colchester and London Liverpool Street
- Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street
- Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street
- Cambridge and London Liverpool Street.
Why are the strikes happening?
Aslef said train drivers have not had an increase in salary for five years, since their last pay deals expired in 2019.
The union said that after its members voted overwhelmingly in February to continue taking industrial action, it asked the train operating companies to hold talks.
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.”
Mr Whelan said the year-old offer of a 4pc pay rise followed by a second 4pc increase was “dead in the water”.
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