Train strikes 2024: Aslef union announces new wave of walkouts for January and February

Train drivers will stage a fresh series of strikes and an overtime ban from the end of the month in a long-running pay dispute, the Aslef union has announced.

The train drivers union says the industrial action will take place between Tuesday January 30 and Monday February 5, affecting different operators on separate days.

The drivers will also refuse to work overtime from Monday January 29 until Tuesday February 6.

A programme of one-day strikes is designed to "pile pressure" on 16 train companies nationwide.

Strike dates and affected train operators

Tuesday January 30: Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, GTR Thameslink, South Western Railway main line and depot drivers, and SWR Island Line.

Wednesday January 31: Northern Trains and TransPennine Trains

Friday February 2: C2C, Greater Anglia, and LNER

Saturday February 3: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway

Monday February 5: Great Western, CrossCountry, Chiltern.

There will be no strike action on Thursday February 1 or Sunday February 5.

What is Aslef saying?

General Secretary Mick Whelan said: “We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it is now a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport. It’s clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.

 “Many members have now not had a single penny increase in pay for half a decade, during which time inflation has soared and, with it, the cost of living. We didn’t ask for an increase during the pandemic, when we worked through lockdown, as key workers, risking our lives, to move goods around the country and enable NHS and other workers to get to work."

Walkouts are likely to stop all trains at affected operators, although there is the possibility that companies could demand that 40% of their timetable runs under the government’s new minimum services levels law.

Whelan added: "The Tories have now tried their old trick of changing the rules. When they couldn’t bully us into backing down they brought in Minimum Service Levels – designed, effectively, to ban strikes by making them ineffective – but this new law won’t ease industrial strife. It will just make it worse. 

 “There is, frankly, no excuse for all this nonsense. The government and the TOCs should do the right thing and come to the table with a realistic offer so we can end this dispute and work together to ensure a future for our railways.”

What is the Rail Delivery Group saying?

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group said: “Nobody wins when strikes impact lives and livelihoods, and they're particularly difficult to justify at a time when taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54m a week to keep services running post Covid.

“Despite the railway's huge financial challenge, drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly £65,000 for a four day week without overtime - that is well above the national average and significantly more than many of our passengers that have no option to work from home are paid.

"Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on the Aslef leadership to work with us to resolve this dispute and deliver a fair deal which both rewards our people, and makes the changes needed to make services more reliable.”