Train strikes halt most services in west of England, Midlands and routes to Scotland and Wales

Delays and disruption warning as train strikes begin

Wales: Train strikes set to cause delays and disruption

Rail passengers will face disruption on Wednesday with train drivers from the Aslef union striking.

During a week of rail strikes, in nearly 2 years of this industrial action, I spoke to commuters, the ASLEF union, and those involved in pay deal negotiations for train drivers.

There’s more disruption for rail passengers in England today, after train drivers began another round of industrial action on Monday to push for better pay and conditions.

In a three-day strike, drivers in the Aslef union will strike for 24 hours at each of England’s national train operators over the course of three days from Tuesday until Thursday, and an overtime ban will apply nationwide from Monday until Saturday.

The first wave yesterday affected commuter routes into London. Today, there’s a 24-hour strike at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains – halting most services in the west of England, Midlands and routes to Scotland and Wales. Tomorrow, drivers will strike at LNER, Northern and TransPennine Express.

The union is pushing for an improved pay offer, with some of its members not having had a pay rise for five years. The last talks broke down a year ago.

The Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, emailed Aslef late last week to suggest discussions about a framework for formal talks, which the union said it welcomed.