London commuters face fresh travel chaos in first of three train strikes this week - Evening Standard

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ondon commuters are facing more travel disruption on Wednesday as a fresh round of strikes get underway.

Services across many train companies are expected to be severely hampered because of walkouts by the Aslef train drivers’ union on Wednesday, and Saturday, June 3 in the row over pay and conditions.

Meanwhile, the RMT union has also called a strike for Friday, June 2.

The strikes will affect services on 15 train companies, with trains due to start later and finish much earlier than usual - typically between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

On Aslef strike days, only around 40 per cent of trains will be running - and in some areas, operators will be running no services at all.

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On the RMT strike day, around half of the network will shut down, with around 50 per cent of normal services running.

Passengers are being advised to plan ahead and check the times of first and last trains.

Wednesday’s walkout will affect major services to and from London and commuter services within the capital.

The services affected are:

• Avanti West Coast
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Gatwick Express
• Great Northern
• Great Western Railway
• Greater Anglia
• Heathrow Express
• Island Line
• LNER
• London Northwestern Railway
• Northern
• South Western Railway
• Southeastern
• Southern
• Stansted Express
• Thameslink
• TransPennine Express
• West Midlands Railway

Announcing the walkouts earlier this month, Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We do not want to go on strike – we do not want to inconvenience passengers, we have families and friends who use the railway, too, and we believe in investing in rail for the future of this country – but the blame for this action lies, fairly and squarely, at the feet of the employers who have forced our hand over this by their intransigence.

“It is now up to them to come up with a more sensible, and realistic, offer and we ask the government not to hinder this process.”

Aslef will also start an overtime ban from June 1, which could affect some services in and out of the capital.

Among those affected are likely to be football fans attempting to travel to London for the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley.

The strike action will also likely affect more than 100,000 people travelling to the annual Epsom Derby on Saturday as well as fans travelling to Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour concert at Tottenham’s stadium.

The Rail Delivery Group, the industry body representing the train operating companies, called the disruption “unnecessary and damaging”.

A spokesperson said: “The upcoming rail strikes called by the Aslef and RMT leadership will not only affect our passengers’ daily commute, but will also impact those travelling from to the FA Cup final and other events across the country, causing disappointment and frustration for tens of thousands of people.

“It will also inconvenience families who have been looking forward and have planned their half-term holidays.

“It will also further burden our people who have already lost thousands of pounds at a time of financial strain.”

The rail unions have accused ministers of tying train companies’ hands, leaving them unable to negotiate a “reasonable” pay deal.

But ministers insist there is a fair offer on the table that union leaders should put to their members.

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2023-05-31 07:11:36Z
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