People travelling by train in York in the coming days are to face further disruption as union members walk out in the long running row over pay and conditions.
Customers faced disruption yesterday (May 31) as drivers from the ASLEF union walked out at 13 train companies across the UK, causing services to grind to a halt across the UK.
Tomorrow (June 2) members of the RMT union will walk out in a separate dispute over pay and conditions, while ASLEF members will walk out again on Saturday.
During tomorrow’s RMT strike, operators in York are to run limited services with customers urged to check timetables before travelling as changes are likely.
On Saturday the York-based operator LNER, which operates the East Coast Main Line, will run a reduced service with a limited timetable in place, but other operators will not run any services at all.
These include TransPennine Express, whose services run from York to cities including Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, and to Malton and Scarborough; Northern, whose services run from York to Leeds and CrossCountry, whose services run from York to cities including Birmingham and Bristol.
The strikes are set to hit those travelling to York Pride on Saturday.
Greg Stephenson, the chair of York Pride, encouraged those planning to travel to the city by train for the event to look at other options.
He told The Press: “We are disappointed that train strikes have landed around our event this year but would encourage people to make alternate arrangements where possible to still travel to York Pride, further details of local travel options are available on our website (https://yorkpride.org.uk/travel/).”
The strikes will also affect those travelling south for the FA Cup final and the Epsom Derby.
The unions say they have not been given a pay offer they can recommend to their members.
Officials say support for industrial action remains strong among workers as well as the public.
ASLEF says train drivers have not had a pay rise for four years.
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Both unions claim the government is preventing the train companies making an acceptable offer, which ministers deny.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “These strikes have been co-ordinated by union leaders to disrupt passengers in a week which will see major events such as the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby and a number of concerts and festivals across the UK.
“Not content with impacting the hundreds of thousands of people who have looked forward to these events all year round, unions are also targeting their own members’ pockets by forcing them to miss out on pay every time they strike.
“The government has facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer, now union leaders must do the right thing and put this to their members.”
For more information on timetables during the strikes visit Network Rail’s website.
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