The railway industrial relations crisis deepened last night, when the drivers’ union ASLEF announced that its members at 12 operators had voted ‘overwhelmingly’ to continue striking over pay during the next six months. The RMT also appears to have hardened its stance, when it emerged on Sunday night that widespread extensions of driver only operation were part of the latest offer from the Rail Delivery Group. The new ASLEF ballot was a legal requirement. The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘This shows just how angry, and determined, our members are. The turnouts were huge and the mandates are overwhelming. ‘The resolve of our members is rock steady. A 93 per cent “Yes” vote, up on the very high figure last time, on an average turnout of 85 per cent shows that our members are in this for the long haul. ‘Now we don’t want to go on strike. We don’t want to inconvenience passengers, our friends and families use the railway too, and we believe in investing in rail for the future of our country, and drivers don’t want to lose a day’s pay. Strikes are always a last resort. ‘But the intransigent attitude of the train companies, with the government acting, with malice, in the shadows, has forced our hand. ‘These drivers, who were, don’t forget, the people who moved key workers and goods around the country during the pandemic, have not had a pay rise for nearly four years since April 2019. With inflation running in excess of 14 per cent the companies and the government are saying that they want us to take a real terms pay cut. ‘That’s why we are calling on the companies to come to the table with a proper proposal to help our members, their drivers, buy this year what they could buy last year. That is the way to prevent another strike and all the disruption that causes. The ball is now firmly in the train companies’ court. And we are calling on the government to help, not hinder, the negotiating process.’ The situation also worsened when the RMT said last night that it ‘just heard from the Rail Delivery Group and there will be no revised offer from them on the TOC-side of the dispute and they have been instructed by the government instead to take on the strike action set out, rather than trying to resolve the dispute through negotiations’. The union has refused an offer which would have meant 4 per cent pay increases in 2022 and 2023. It continued: ‘It is now absolutely clear that the RDG’s attempts to resolve the dispute by making a revised and improved offer have been blocked by the government. ‘The companies know that RMT cannot, and never will, accept the implementation of Driver Only Operation as a national principle for operating the railways. ‘It is also clear that it is the government itself, and not the RDG, that insisted that DOO was inserted in to the proposals on Sunday evening as a pre-condition, and the responsibility for the failure to progress proposals towards a resolution lies solely with the government, who have torpedoed the dispute resolution process. ‘The planned Industrial action for RMT Train Operating Company members goes ahead as scheduled as there is no resolution to the dispute and in fact a resolution to the dispute is now further away due to the government’s late intervention in the negotiating process.’ Major 48-hour walkouts affecting most train operators and Network Rail are set to go ahead on 13-14 and 16-17 December, and the RMT has announced a further stoppage, from 18.00 on Christmas Eve to 05.59 on 27 December, which will affect travellers during the late afternoon and evening of Christmas Eve. There are no National Rail trains on Christmas Day and very few on Boxing Day, but projects at more than 300 worksites over the holiday period are set to be disrupted. Unless there is a breakthrough in the talks, there will be two more 48-hour RMT strikes on 3-4 and 6-7 January. Operators have warned passengers not to travel during the strikes unless their journeys are ‘absolutely necessary’. Rail Delivery Group chair Steve Montgomery said: ‘Regrettably, the RMT leadership’s refusal to put our proposed 8 per cent pay offer to its membership means we are unable to reach a resolution at this stage, although we remain open to talks. With the deadline having passed where disruption could be avoided even if strikes were called off, our focus is on giving passengers the maximum possible certainty so they can make their festive plans. ‘No one wanted to see these strikes go ahead, and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this unnecessary and damaging disruption. ‘We continue to urge RMT leaders to put our proposals to their members rather than condemning them to weeks of lost pay either side of Christmas during a cost-of-living crisis.’ Meanwhile, cleaners who work on railway contracts on behalf of third-party companies demonstrated outside the Department for Transport offices in London yesterday afternoon. Their union the RMT is calling on Mark Harper to ‘give a mandate to train operators to end the scandal of outsourcing’. The RMT is calling for cleaners to receive £15 an hour, sick pay and ‘decent’ pensions. The cleaners, who the RMT said are employed by contractors such as Churchill, Atalian Servest, Mitie and Bidvest Noonan, will be striking on 22, 23 and 31 December.

Merseyrail said it will run a ‘limited’ train service during the forthcoming RMT strikes on 13-14 and 16-17 December. The Merseyrail network will be affected by the lack of Network Rail signallers and maintenance staff on strike days, and so frequencies will be reduced and no trains will run in the evenings. Merseyrail has also warned that its services are likely to be affected when staff stage another walkout between 24 and 27 December. Fire disrupted trains at Wolverhampton Train services were disrupted by a warehouse fire close to the railway at Wolverhampton which broke out on Monday night. Network Rail was forced to close the line, because the main wall of the gutted warehouse building had become unstable and was at risk of collapsing on to the track nearby. Services were suspended on the Stour Valley line between Wolverhampton, Sandwell & Dudley and Birmingham New Street, and six Stour Valley stations were closed. Rail replacement buses were provided, and the train service has now been restored. Classic Electrostars are refurbished Govia Thameslink Railway has completed a modernisation programme of 75 Class 377/4 Electrostar units which run on its Southern Railway routes. New features include information screens and at-seat charging and power points, as well as modern engineering equipment to improve reliability. The upgrade has been carried out by GTR staff at Selhurst depot. The fleet was built by Bombardier in Derby about 20 years ago to replace slam-door stock, and the oldest of the class have run almost four million kilometres since then.

The RMT has reacted to the latest pay offer from the Rail Delivery Group by calling another strike of its Network Rail members. The stoppage, from 18.00 on Christmas Eve to 05.59 on 27 December, will affect travellers during the late afternoon and evening of Christmas Eve, because there are no National Rail trains on Christmas Day and very few on Boxing Day, but projects at more than 300 worksites over the holiday period are now set to be disrupted. Network Rail's chief negotiator Tim Shoveller said the union is ‘playing fast and loose with people's Christmas plans and the new strike dates announced deliberately target vital engineering work designed to improve the railway’. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘We remain available for talks in order to resolve these issues but we will not bow to pressure from the employers and the government to the detriment of our members.’ Strikes of 48 hours already called for 13-14 and 16-17 December will go ahead, and these will affect train operators as well as Network Rail. Transport secretary Mark Harper responded: ‘It’s incredibly disappointing that, despite a new and improved deal offering job security and a fair pay rise, the RMT is not only continuing with upcoming industrial action but has called more strikes over Christmas. ‘It’s especially disappointing given the TSSA union has described this new and improved deal as the “best we can achieve through negotiation” and called off strikes. ‘The government has played its part by facilitating a fair and decent offer but, by instructing its members to reject it, the RMT has failed to play its part and our rail network now faces more harmful disruption rather than helpful discussion.’ The offer which the RMT has rejected consisted of a ‘framework agreement’,which would have funded pay increases of up to 8 per cent for the pay awards in 2022 and 2023. The RDG had said ‘changes to working practices’ were also part of the deal, and unconfirmed reports have claimed that these include many more trains without conductors, when their doors would be operated by the driver. Even recently-built main line trains include door controls in the driver’s cab. Meanwhile, the RMT is putting a new offer from Network Rail to its members in an electronic referendum, accompanied by a recommendation to reject. This ballot will close on 12 December at midday.

The RMT has turned down a new pay offer from the operators who belong to the Rail Delivery Group, describing it as ‘not acceptable’. The union is demanding a meeting today as the first of the Christmas strikes get nearer. The offer consisted of a ‘framework agreement’,which would have funded pay increases of up to 8 per cent for the pay awards in 2022 and 2023. The RDG said: ‘This is a fair and affordable offer in challenging times, providing a significant uplift in salary for staff. If approved by the RMT, implementation could be fast-tracked to ensure staff go into Christmas secure in the knowledge that they will receive this enhanced pay award early in the New Year alongside a guarantee of job security until April 2024. ‘With revenue stuck at 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels and many working practices unchanged in decades, taxpayers who have contributed £1,800 per household to keep the railway running in recent years, will balk at continuing to pump billions of pounds a year into an industry that desperately needs to move forward with long-overdue reforms and that alienates potential customers with sustained industrial action. ‘We urge the RMT leadership to put this offer to its membership and remove the threat of a month of industrial action over Christmas that will upset the travel plans of millions and cause real hardship for businesses which depend on Christmas custom. Instead, we urge the RMT to move forward together with us and so we can give our people a pay rise and deliver an improved railway with a sustainable, long-term future for those who work on it.’ The offer includes changes to working practices which would ’formalise’ the current voluntary Sunday working arrangements, introduce part time contracts and ‘flexible working‘ rosters, and also see the creation of ‘multi-skilled’ station staff, who would be ‘equipped to take on a range of responsibilities’. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said last night: ‘We have rejected this offer as it does not meet any of our criteria for securing a settlement on long term job security, a decent pay rise and protecting working conditions. ‘The RDG and DfT who sets their mandate, both knew this offer would not be acceptable to RMT members.  ‘If this plan was implemented, it would not only mean the loss of thousands of jobs but the use of unsafe practices such as DOO and would leave our railways chronically understaffed. ‘RMT is demanding an urgent meeting with the RDG tomorrow morning with a view to securing a negotiated settlement on job security, working conditions and pay.’ The union added that Network Rail has also made a ‘complex offer on pay and working practices‘ which its National Executive Committee will discuss today. Transport minister Mark Harper was quick to respond to the RMT’s reaction, saying: ‘The RMT has been offered an improved new deal by the train operating companies and has rejected it outright. The situation is incredibly disappointing, and unfair to the public, passengers and the rail workforce who want a deal. ‘Our railways need to modernise. There’s no place for outdated working practices that rely on voluntary overtime to run a reliable seven-day service. Passengers should also receive the service they’ve paid for. This deal will help get trains running on time. ‘The government continues to play its part in trying to facilitate a resolution to this dispute, while rightly letting the employers do the negotiating. Now it’s for the unions to play their part too by putting the offer from the train operating companies to their members and call off industrial action that would damage the rail industry, rail workers and the wider economy.’ Unless there is a breakthrough, walkouts by 40,000 RMT railway members are still set to go ahead in pairs of 48-hour strikes separated by one day in each case, when disruption is also likely. They will affect 14 train operators and Network Rail on 13-14 and 16-17 December, and on 3-4 and 6-7 January.

Vivarail trains running between Bedford and Bletchley on London Northwestern Railway were withdrawn last night and the rail service has been replaced by buses, following the news that Vivarail has been placed in administration. Grant Thornton is understood to be taking responsibility for managing the company’s financial affairs. LNR engineering director John Doughty apologised, and continued: ‘Following the news that Vivarail is to enter administration, we have been left with no alternative but to pause the service as we can no longer guarantee the required level of maintenance for the trains on the route will be available.’ Rail services using Vivarail units on the Isle of Wight are not reported to have been affected. Rail funding welcomed ++ The Department for Transport has published the High-Level Output Specification (HLOS) and Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) for the railway in England and Wales from April 2024 to March 2029, and the funding of £44 billion has been welcomed by railway suppliers. Railway Industry Association chief executive Darren Caplan said: ‘RIA welcomes this commitment from the UK Government, which in difficult economic times appears to mean Network Rail can continue maintaining and renewing the railway in CP7 with similar funding levels to today’s.‘ RMT talks ++ Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth has held talks in London with RMT general secretary Mick Lynch. Transport Scotland said they have agreed to work together to urge the UK government to find solutions to the Network Rail pay dispute and avoid strikes during the weeks up to Christmas. In addition to discussing the dispute, Ms Gilruth repeated her opposition to the Minimum Service Level Bill. HS2 journey ++ Transport secretary Mark Harper has made a first trip through a completed HS2 tunnel. He was joined by HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston, and they both made the historic journey 33 metres below ground level at Long Itchington in Warwickshire. The HS2 project was safeguarded in the Autumn Statement made by chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who told the Commons that funding would be available to continue building HS2 to Manchester as well as East West Rail and the ‘core’ elements of Northern Powerhouse Rail.

The number of passengers on National Rail reached 99 per cent of pre-Covid levels on Friday 18 November according to the latest statistics from the Department for Transport, which also said the usage level remained at 97 per cent over the weekend which followed. The DfT is set to publish a Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) tomorrow. Railway Industry Association chief executive Darren Caplan said: ‘It is clear from DfT passenger figures just published that passengers are coming back in force, even during the working week. ‘With 99 per cent recorded on 18 November, we are getting tantalisingly close to the figures recorded in early 2020, a period which marked the second highest year on record. ‘Coupled with the news that passenger revenues are at around 85 per cent plus of pre-Covid levels, and despite the impact of industrial disputes and service issues in some parts of the country, the message to government couldn’t be clearer. ‘Whilst we appreciate the renewed commitments to HS2, “core” Northern Powerhouse Rail and East West Rail, we mustn’t take our foot off the pedal of investment in the existing rail network too, which is close to capacity, will need even more capacity in the years ahead and which is the cleanest form of transport for government to invest in. ‘We urge the Treasury and DfT to take note of the return to rail, and recognise that, even in the current tough economic times, rather than being a cost on the public purse, rail actually supports 710,000 jobs, £43 billion Gross Value Added, and £14 billion in tax revenue. For every pound spent on rail, £2.50 is generated in the wider economy. With it being only a matter of time before 100 per cent of pre-Covid passenger levels are reached, we urge the government to ensure work is properly funded on the existing network in its SoFA for 2024-29, as well as to push on with its welcome support for the major projects.’

Open access services are set to start running on the Great Western Main Line for the first time in two years from now. The Office of Rail and Road has approved an application by Grand Union Trains to operate five trains a day between London, Cardiff and Carmarthen from December 2024. The ORR rejected objections from Network Rail that there would not be enough spare paths. Trains will also call at Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport, Gowerton and Llanelli. In addition, GUT has promised a new parkway station at Felindre, north of Swansea, as well as improvements at Severn Tunnel Junction. Grand Union said it would create more than 125 jobs and would be procuring new rolling stock for the service, which will run on an electrified main line from London Paddington as far as Cardiff Central. The trains will be bi-modal and reduce journey times. GUT is working with an independent European investment firm Serena Industrial Partners as well as the Spanish operator Renfe, and had said its trains would have ‘bigger seats, more legroom and increased luggage space as well as a buffet car on every service’. The ORR said it had weighed up its decision ‘against the impact on government funds and effect on other users of the railway, both passengers and freight’. Open access passenger operators pay lower track access charges, but they are not protected from increases in the future compared with contracted operators, whose costs are met by the government. The ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said: ‘This decision supports more choice for passengers, new direct journey opportunities, more price competition, and new comfortable trains. The added competition should also make a significant contribution to innovation in terms of the routes served, ticketing practices and service quality improvements, by both Grand Union and through the response of existing operators.’ Speaking at the end of September, Grand Union Trains managing director Ian Yeowart had said: ‘We have been pleased to work on promoting this important service which will, for the first time, deliver significant new infrastructure as part of the application process. We have been proud to work alongside colleagues at Serena and Renfe whose vision for improved services is close to our own and has enabled us to put forward this ambitious project to the ORR.’ The route’s existing contracted intercity operator Great Western Railway has yet to comment.

Figures released by the Office of Rail and Road have shown that Avanti West Coast paid £12 million to its owners FirstGroup and Trenitalia last year. The revelation has prompted calls from Labour for the money to be repaid to taxpayers in the light of Avanti’s poor performance in recent months, when the number of its cancellations boosted the national average to a new height, although the figures are now improving. The operator was receiving payments of £343 million as part of its contract with the Department for Transport, but apart from £12 million the rest was used to pay its costs. FirstGroup said: ‘Since 2020, train operators have been paid a nominal fixed annual management fee as well as a performance-based fee against specific targets set by the government to run rail services. The information released by ORR today refers to financial data for operations in the year to March 2022, during which we saw passenger numbers begin to recover after the impact of the pandemic and prior to industrial action across the network.’ Consumer watchdog Transport Focus has described the disruption as ‘potentially putting some off using the train for good’, while the RMT has accused Avanti of ’systematic mismanagement … causing delays, fewer trains and staff shortages’. Avanti has been given a six-month extension of its contract to give it time to recover from driver shortages but patience has been running out, particularly among politicians and business leaders in north west England. Transport secretary Mark Harper is due to meet metro mayors in northern cities today and buiness leaders tomorrow. There is also concern about poor performance on TransPennine Express and Northern. Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh has accused the government of ‘rewarding abject failure with taxpayers’ hard-earned money’. She continued: ‘It is scandalous that despite the abysmal service, the government has allowed public money to flow into the pockets of shareholders. It’s time the government did their job and hold this failing operator to account. Ministers sign off on dividend payments – they must claw back taxpayers’ cash being used to reward failure.’ Timetables are set to change in December and improvements are hoped for then, but the chief executive of Northern Powerhouse Partnership Henri Murison said: ‘We need a resolution of this by the end of the week or we will get absolute chaos following the timetable change on 11 December, when the trains committed to will often be cancelled more than not.’ The Department for Transport said it is holding regular meetings with Avant West Coast managers, adding: ‘They have been given six months to roll out a recovery plan and deliver long-overdue reliability.’ Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: ’Passengers have told us that this disruption is having a significant impact, potentially putting some off using the train for good. Some have cancelled plans or travelled another way, while others feel anxious about it all going wrong. While most of those who are able to travel find the experience OK, many have experienced crowding. ‘Avanti and TransPennine Express must do better in ensuring that the trains run reliably. They must also provide better information.’ First Rail managing director Steve Montgomery apologised earlier this month for the difficulties, saying that they were caused by sickness and drivers refusing to work overtime. He continued: ‘We apologise to customers. We understand the inconvenience this is causing people in their day to day lives. And it is something that we are trying to correct.’

A line in Devon between Exeter and Okehampton has carried its first 250,000 passengers just over a year since regular passenger services were restarted, having been withdrawn in 1972. Rail minister Huw Merriman visited Okehampton to unveil a plaque marking the official reopening of the station building, which has gained a café, Dartmoor National Park information centre, a shop, toilets, retro-style waiting room and a museum. The service began running on 20 November last year, and the frequency of trains was doubled to hourly in the spring. Transport campaigners are continuing to press for the line beyond Okehampton around the northern side of Dartmoor to Tavistock and the existing terminus at Bere Alston to be rebuilt, which would restore a second route between Exeter and Plymouth. Contracts rethink ++ The recently-formed lobbying group for operators, Rail Partners, has claimed that private sector expertise is ‘vital’ to help rail’s recovery and start to close the gap in industry finances. It said research carried out by independent economic analysts Oxera shows that the Treasury could earn another £1.6 billion over two years if ‘restrictive contracts’ for operators were eased. It has published a new report, ‘Fork in the tracks: attracting customers back to the railway’, which argues that the contractual system which supported the railway through the Covid crisis now needs to evolve. Accessible station ++ A new, fully accessible station is set to open in Morley next summer, which will be able to accommodate longer trains as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. The new, remodelled station, on the south-western side of Leeds, is being built 75 metres away from the existing station, which has been able to stay open during the work. The project will include electrification.

A pioneering company which led the way in converting redundant trains to new forms of traction is preparing to appoint administrators. Vivarail, which was founded by Adrian Shooter in 2013, acquired a large fleet of former District Line cars from Transport for London with the intention of re-using their aluminium bodyshells and installing new technology, such as batteries. Some of the converted rolling stock is now in service in the south Midlands between Bedford and Bletchley and on the Isle of Wight. A small number of trains are also being prepared for service in north Wales and on the Greenford branch of the GWR, while two have been exported to the United States. Vivarail also celebrated after one of its battery driven units became the first electric train to cross the Forth Bridge during COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. However, the company’s bid to gain new financing has failed so far, and Railnews understands that many ‘D78’ ex-Underground vehicles which had been stored at Long Marston are being scrapped in an attempt to avoid storage costs. The company took the first step towards administration by filing a Notice of Intent on 23 November. Managing director Steve McBride said: ‘The Board and I have worked incredibly hard to secure new investment in recent months, and although we have been encouraged by the level of interest, time is now against us to allow potential investors to step in. Combined with slow market conditions and delays in reaching certain key commercial arrangements we have had no choice but to file a Notice of Intention to appoint Administrators with the Courts. ‘The next few weeks undoubtedly represents a degree of uncertainty for everyone connected to Vivarail, including our 70 employees who have shown incredible commitment and dedication to decarbonising our railway. During this time. management, the board of directors and our advisors will leave no stone unturned in finding a solution.  ‘We will now be consulting with our customers and other stakeholders to try and drive the business forwards, but we must be realistic in that if we are unable to deliver a rescue package Administration will unfortunately be inevitable.’