London train strikes 2024: Weekend walkouts by LNER train drivers called off

Train drivers at LNER, which runs the passenger service on the East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh were set to walkout every Saturday and Sunday between August 31 to November 10.

On Thursday (August 29) Aslef announced that the action is suspended and drivers will now report for duty as normal.

An Aslef spokesperson said the suspension follows “meetings between the union and company to resolve a long-running dispute over LNER management breaking agreements on working practices.”

This included “driver managers driving trains, improper use of overtime working, and drivers being pushed to operate outside of agreed rosters.”

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The union had also raised safety concerns regarding the “dual-roleing” of driver managers driving trains and not, therefore, being available to manage when an incident occurs.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “Once again, we have demonstrated that by sitting around the table and negotiating, issues on the railway can be resolved in a way that means better workplace practices for rail workers and a better service for the travelling public. Aslef will continue to campaign for a fully-staffed railway that does not rely on excessive use of driver overtime.

 “We continue to operate in good faith, we are pleased to have finally resolved this long-standing issue with LNER’s abuse of our agreements, and we look forward to the resumption of normal working.”

The dispute between LNER and Aslef was separate to the long-running row over pay between drivers and all 16 train companies in England, which could soon be resolved following a new pay offer.

A statement on the LNER website says: “Due to the late-notice cancellation of the strike action, a significantly reduced timetable will still be operating on these dates. Customers booked to travel on Saturday August 31 and Sunday September 1 can still change their journeys and use their tickets on alternative dates as we originally advised.

“Where possible we will attempt to run a small number of additional trains over the weekend. Please check before you travel.”

An LNER spokesperson said: “After constructive talks with Aslef, we are pleased that strikes planned to commence from this Saturday August 31 have now been called off.

“We will be looking to strengthen the timetable published for this weekend and advise customers to check for the latest information in advance of their journey.”