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Passengers throughout Britain face one other day of cancelled or disrupted rail companies on Saturday as drivers for 11 prepare firms go on strike.
Practice operators urged folks to journey provided that mandatory and to test earlier than setting out, with no trains or solely a handful of companies working on affected routes.
Most direct intercity trains on mainlines from London to Scotland and Wales have been cancelled, with no companies working in any respect on operators together with Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, Northern and Southeastern.
The most recent strike by Aslef members comes because the union continues to poll members over an additional six months of potential strike motion within the long-running dispute over pay.
Mick Whelan, the final secretary of Aslef, mentioned that almost all drivers, who’re paid on common £59,000 a yr, had not seen a rise since earlier than the Covid pandemic began.
He instructed the Guardian: “We nonetheless discover ourselves for greater than three years with no pay rise. And the employers are saying we are able to’t offer you one with out the federal government, and the federal government are saying it’s important to converse to the employer.”
Drivers have known as off a deliberate strike at one firm, Arriva London, which operates London Overground, forward of Saturday. Whelan mentioned: “We’ve resolved it there and in Scotland and Wales – [other cases seem] to be Westminster-driven.”
Whelan is due subsequent Wednesday to fulfill the brand new transport secretary, Mark Harper, who raised hopes for a breakthrough after assembly the RMT common secretary, Mick Lynch, on Thursday and promising to “work to facilitate” a deal.
The Aslef chief mentioned: “If he can break the impasse and discover a approach ahead, that’s high quality – however solely the federal government at this second can instruct the businesses to interrupt the contract they’ve entered into.”
The RMT has introduced eight days of strikes in December and January, and Aslef might announce extra after a gathering on 7 December. However Whelan mentioned: “We’re not intentionally focusing on Christmas – we recognise all the issues persons are going through.”
Daniel Mann, the director of trade operations on the Rail Supply Group, mentioned: “The strike by Aslef brings extra uncertainty for passengers and companies by disrupting their weekend plans.
“Whereas we are going to do all that we are able to to minimise disruption. If you’re going to journey on the routes affected, please plan forward and test the newest journey recommendation on nationwide rail inquiries.”
In the meantime, nearly 3,000 bus drivers in London will press forward with strikes subsequent month, the Unite union confirmed. Members employed by Metroline and 950 at Abellio will take seven days of motion from December 1-17 in disputes over pay.
Practice operators and routes affected
Avanti West Coast: no service
Chiltern Railways: no service.
CrossCountry: no service.
East Midlands Railway: no service.
West Midlands Railway/London Northwestern Railway: no service.
Heathrow Categorical: no service.
Northern: no service.
Southeastern: no service.
Nice Western Railway: extraordinarily restricted service, from 7.30am to 9.30pm, solely between London and Bristol; Studying and Oxford; and Studying and Basingstoke.
Better Anglia: extraordinarily restricted service, solely between London Liverpool Road and Colchester; and Norwich and Southend. The Stansted Categorical can have one prepare an hour between Liverpool Road and Stansted airport.
London North Jap Railway: extraordinarily restricted service. Only one prepare every approach between London and Leeds, and 4 every approach between London and Edinburgh.
Lumo: trains will run solely between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
TransPennine Categorical: extraordinarily restricted service. 4 trains every approach between York and Manchester; three every approach between Manchester and Liverpool; two trains every approach between Sheffield and Cleethorpes.
