Train drivers in England begin three-day series of strikes
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Rail passengers across England will face significant disruption on Friday as train drivers at five operating companies carry out industrial action.
The 24-hour strike will be the first of three days of rolling strike action being taken by the train drivers’ union Aslef, with services on Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway all affected.
The five companies have said they will not be running any services throughout Friday and warned that services on Saturday could also be affected.
The strikes will be particularly disruptive for passengers attempting to travel between London, the north-west and Glasgow on services run by Avanti, the operator in charge of the north-west main line. Drivers in Scotland and Wales are not on strike but Avanti’s cross-border rail services will be disrupted.
The strikes coincide with an overtime ban by the union for all operators, which began on Thursday and will run to Saturday, with another planned for next Monday and Tuesday. It is expected that the ban will make short-notice cancellations and disruption more likely.
The strikes on Friday will be followed by industrial action on other parts of the network on Saturday and Monday.
On Saturday, strikes will take place on Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern and TransPennine, and on Monday services on Greater Anglia, GTR’s Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern/Gatwick Express, Southeastern, South Western Railway and SWR Island Line will be cancelled.
