Drivers belonging to ASLEF are striking at 14 English train operators today, and ASLEF leader Mick Whelan is warning that more walkouts are possible unless there is a settlement in the meantime. Train services are also being disrupted this week by two 48-hour RMT strikes, the first of which was on Tuesday and Wednesday and the second will be tomorrow and Saturday. RMT walkouts include Network Rail staff, and many lines are closed because no signallers are available. About one in five services run, but only on some key routes. Speaking to the BBC this morning, Mick Whelan said: ‘What we see at the moment is just a blanket “we want not to pay you, and we don’t want to pay you for what you do”. That isn’t working together or making offers to change working practices.’ It has been reported that drivers are being offered an annual pay rise of £2000, but Mr Whelan responded: ‘If that turns out to be an offer and they’ve leaked it to the press … I think that’s self defeating. It breaches the trust and the honourability of the negotations that we’re in. I keep being asked, quite naturally, “would you accept this?”. I don’t know what the strings are.’ He added: ‘I would much rather be here arguing against future cuts to our timetables … I would rather be talking to you about the green agenda and investment. I would rather talk about growth. I want to get back to my day job.’ The operators affected today are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Govia Thameslink Railway (including Gatwick Express), Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express), Heathrow Express, LNER, West Midlands Trains (London Northwestern and West Midlands Railway), Northern, South Western Railway (including Island Line), Southeastern and TransPennine Express.

The results of a new survey published by passenger watchdog Transport Focus show that passengers are more concerned about the cost of travelling by train than anything else. Performance came just behind, while the third priority was trains running often enough, followed by accurate and timely information about the timetable, and then getting a seat on the train. Less important were helpful staff, clean stations and trains, and reliable WiFi, which was the 23rd category in TF’s list of 25 priorities. Finding sufficient space for luggage was the least important factor. More than 15,000 people were asked for their opinions. Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: ‘The research found passengers’ top two priorities for the railway – well ahead of others – are the “price of train tickets offers value for money” and “reliability and punctuality”. This reaffirms that what matters most to passengers is a punctual and reliable railway that delivers on the timetable’s promise at an acceptable price. ‘The railway must maintain its focus on this. Passengers’ other key priorities also reflect an emphasis on the railway getting the basics right. Passengers want sufficiently frequent trains and accurate and timely information about train times and any delays. They want a seat on board a clean train and, of course, they need to feel safe. These are not the only things that matter, but passengers will judge the railway on how effectively it delivers its “core product”.’ The figures have been published as the RMT and ASLEF both stage more strikes this week. Today is the second day of a 48-hour walkout by RMT members at Network Rail and most train operators, and a second 48-hour RMT strike is planned for Friday and Saturday, while ASLEF drivers will strike on Thursday. Train services are being severely disrupted throughout Britain, with only one in five trains running at best, although reports say that Network Rail is indicating progress in negotiations over pay and conditions.

Train operators are warning that their services will be badly disrupted over the next five days. There will be two 48-hour RMT strikes, the first of which started this morning. The second will be on Friday and Saturday, while ASLEF drivers will strike on the intervening Thursday. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has claimed that the government has been on ‘radio silence’ since before Christmas. He said: ‘The executives who run the industry day on day are in despair at what the government is making them say in these talks.’ The Department for Transport has denied accusations of silence, saying the rail minister had remained ‘in regular contact with all parties and the government had taken significant steps to enable a deal.’ It added: ‘Unions should step back from this strike action so we can start 2023 by ending this damaging dispute.’ The Rail Delivery Group has repeated that reforms to working arrangements are an essential part of any settlement. These may include the widespread closure of ticket offices and more driver-only trains. Meanwhile, the West Coast Main Line has been blocked by flood damage at Carstairs, after heavy rain eroded both sides of an embankment on Friday. Network Rail said its engineers are ‘working around the clock to remove landslip material affecting a 40m long section of the line before beginning to reinforce the area with over 200 tonnes of new stone’. The track itself will have to relaid and signalling circuits checked before train services can return north of Carlisle, and Network Rail has estimated that repairs will take until Friday this week.

Posted 19th December 2022 We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Railnews is taking a seasonal break. We wish you a very happy festive season and look forward to being back with you in the New Year. Thank you for all your support in 2022.With all good wishes The Railnews team

TSSA members at Network Rail have voted to accept the latest offer. The union said 85 per cent of its members voted yes, and that 70 per cent of 2,500 members had voted. The settlement does not end TSSA’s dispute with train operators. TSSA said the offer is worth a minimum consolidated pay increase of between 9 and 11 per cent, along with guarantees on terms and conditions, and job security until 2025. Organising director Luke Chester said: ‘This is a decisive result with our members roundly endorsing this offer. It’s great news and a great deal for our members in Network Rail. It just shows what can be done through negotiations when there’s a serious offer on the table.’ Meanwhile, the RMT is going ahead with its latest 48-hour strike today and tomorrow, with more planned in January. It also starts an overtime ban on Sunday which is set to continue until 2 January. However, it said last night that it had attended talks convened by the rail minister Huw Merrriman, which also included Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group. The union has agreed to further discussions ‘in order to find resolutions’. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘These meetings will be arranged but in the meantime all industrial action remains in place.’

Adrian Shooter, an engineer who led the first Chiltern Railways franchise and founded Vivarail, has died. Mr Shooter, who was 74 and unveiled a statue of himself at London Marylebone station earlier this year, had joined British Rail in 1970 as a management trainee. He became maintenance engineer at Bletchley then depot manager at Heaton, followed by the post of area maintenance engineer at Carlisle. He worked on projects at Bournemouth and Selhurst depot, before becoming area manager, St Pancras, for the London Midland Region. As privatisation approached he led the management of the Chiltern Railways Train Operating Unit for BR and won the first franchise, which began in July 1996, later becoming chairman of DB Regio UK after the second Chiltern franchise was acquired by Deutsche Bahn in 2008. This franchise had begun in 2002 and ran until December 2021. Exceptionally, the contract included major infrastructure upgrades, such as redoubling parts of the Chiltern Main Line, a new depot at Wembley and building the chord at Bicester which allowed trains to run for the first time between London Marylebone and Oxford. In 2013 he set up Vivarail Ltd, which bought redundant District Line cars from Transport for London and refurbished them to become ‘D-Trains’ with new forms of traction, including battery power. The units have entered service with several operators, including South Western Railway’s Island Line, but regrettably Vivarail has now called in administrators after it failed to identify new investors. Even so, Adrian had ably demonstrated the possibilities of reusing older vehicles to provide economical rolling stock upgrades. He was also the chairman of SLC Rail, whose managing director Ian Walters said: ‘I am deeply saddened by the passing of this great man. I met Adrian on my first day working in the rail industry in November 1991, and I feel lucky and honoured to have had his mentorship and friendship since then. ‘We have benefited from Adrian’s leadership, wisdom and experience, and focus on what worked for passengers. As we’ve grown as a business, it has been a privilege to have him as part of the SLC team for so many years. ‘It is no exaggeration that his involvement and advocacy has been fundamental to our success.’ Adrian himself paid generous tributes to colleagues, saying: ‘All I ever did was create the vision, hire the very best people and then help them to do their best. They, not me, were the people who delighted our passengers. They had to work in all weathers and run a safe railway wherever the problems. Some of them relieved me of the tedium of negotiating and implementing the many over-complicated legal agreements we have been saddled with. ‘It has been a very real pleasure to see so many people grow in confidence and help create a bigger and much better railway supported by private sector investment.’ The present managing director of Chiltern Railways Richard Allan said: ‘We are deeply sorry to hear about the death of Adrian. We and our customers owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the vision, drive and passion that he and his team brought to bear in creating and developing Chiltern from 1996 onwards. ‘Adrian was a leader, a colleague and a friend to many current and former colleagues at Chiltern and in the wider railway industry. It was only a few months ago that a group of industry colleagues were delighted to welcome Adrian to Marylebone to commemorate his immense contribution to Chiltern and the rail industry over his 50 year career. Adrian and his family unveiled a statue of him on Platform 1, and he was so very proud to be asked to unveil a train named in his honour.’ Adrian Shooter was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Chartered Institute of Transport and was awarded CBE in 2010. He had been suffering from motor neurone disease, and died in Switzerland. Adrian Shooter CBE FREng FIMechE22 November 1948–13 December 2022

Railfreight down ++ The Office of Rail and Road has reported that freight volumes fell between 1 July and 30 September. The regulator said the drop had been caused by strikes. Total freight moved was four billion net tonne kilometres, which was 6.4 per cent lower than in the same three months a year earlier. The chief executive of the industry lobby group Rail Partners, Andy Bagnall, has warned that the decline underlines the ‘negative impact industrial action is having on rail freight demand, despite not directly involving the freight companies’. He continued: ‘Some customers are already losing confidence due to the disruption and switching from rail to road. There is a very real risk that if resolution is not achieved quickly, more customers will choose less environmentally sustainable modes in the long term. This not only puts the potential growth of the sector at risk, but it also undermines the ability of rail freight to contribute to wider economic growth and support the achievement of net zero targets.’ Radio row ++ Train services are badly disrupted again today by the first 48-hour RMT strike of train operating and Network Rail staff this week. Many lines are closed for a second day, and another strike is set to be staged on Friday and Saturday in the continuing dispute over pay and conditions. Meanwhile, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has accused the BBC of ‘parroting’ the right-wing press. In a heated exchange with Today programme presenter Mishal Husain, Mr Lynch said: ‘You never show any admiration for the fight that working people are putting up for our country, for the rebalancing of society. You never criticise the super-rich for what they're doing to nurses, what they're doing to postal workers, and you never seem to take an impartial view on the way this society is balanced at the moment with the complete lack of distribution of wealth.’ The BBC has declined to comment.

Members of the RMT have rejected the latest pay offer from Network Rail. The proposed increase would have been 5 and 4 per cent over two years, but the union is opposing the offer, along with job losses. The majority against the settlement was 63.6 per cent, and the turnout was 83 per cent. The result of the ballot was announced on the eve of a 48-hour national strike, which started this morning. Only limited services are running on certain routes, and many lines have no trains at all. The walkout has affected nearly all operators in England, but services in Scotland and Wales are also disrupted by the lack of Network Rail signallers. Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said there had been ‘clearly a significant number of Network Rail colleagues who want this deal, but are caught up by these needless strikes and collective bargaining’, while rail minister Huw Merriman described the walkouts as ‘very damaging’. He urged RMT general secretary Mick Lynch to ‘come back to the table’. However, Mr Lynch said: ‘This is a huge rejection of Network Rail's substandard offer and shows that our members are determined to take further strike action in pursuit of a negotiated settlement. The government is refusing to lift a finger to prevent these strikes and it is clear they want to make effective strike action illegal in Britain. ‘We will resist that and our members, along with the entire trade union movement will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay increases and good working conditions.’ The Department for Transport said it had helped with a ’fair and improved offer’, and that the pay increases were more than those in the private sector. The strikes today and tomorrow are set to be followed by a second 48-hour walkout on Friday and Saturday, and Network Rail staff are also due to strike between the evening of 24 December and 27 December, disrupting Christmas engineering work. If there is no settlement in the meantime, two more 48-hour national strikes have also been called for 3-4 and 6-7 January.

Overnight snow in southern England is disrupting train services around London and in East Anglia. Thameslink, Southern, Gatwick Express, South Western Railway and Southeastern are all warning of delays and cancellations, and there are also problems on the Greater Anglia network, where icy conditions have meant that a track inspection must be carried out. Network Rail said hundreds of staff are defrosting frozen points and signals, and trains with snow ploughs are also being used. National Rail braces for strikes this week Members of the RMT at Network Rail and English train operators are preparing to walk out for four days this week, as the dispute over pay and conditions continues. There will be a 48-hour strike tomorrow and Wednesday, and a second stoppage on Friday and Saturday. Services are also expected to be disrupted on Thursday, partly because some trains will be out of position. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has called for a meeting with the Prime Minister as the deadlock between the unions, rail management and the government continues. Another strike has been called of Network Rail staff between 24 and 27 December, which is set to interrupt maintainance and upgrade work planned during Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Rail minister Huw Merriman has visited King’s Cross station in London to see progress with the installation of digital signalling on the southern section of the East Coast Main Line. During the past year the programme to introduce the European Train Control System has seen newly-equipped trains used on the Northern City Line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate, while the first retrofitted passenger trains have been tested at the upgraded Rail Innovation and Development Centre. More rolling stock will be fitted soon, including suburban passenger trains and freight locomotives. Almost 3,000 drivers will be trained to work with information on a monitor in the cab instead of from signals by the lineside, and there are also plans to fit ETCS on those steam locomotives which are approved for special runs on the main line. The past year has also seen government approval of the Full Business Case for the project, which is supported by over £1 billion of further investment. The rail minister was shown the project during his visit to King’s Cross yesterday, when he said: ‘It has truly been a year of breakthrough delivery on our East Coast Digital Programme, from the commissioning of new signalling to the testing of trains.’ Network Rail’s director, Industry Partnership for Digital Railway, Toufic Machnouk, said: ‘We are creating the future railway. We are pushing the boundaries with our collaboration across the industry, and demonstrating what the industry can achieve when working together.’