Rail passengers warned of fresh travel chaos as drivers strike again

Rail passengers are being warned of fresh disruption to services because of strikes and an overtime ban by train drivers in a long-running pay dispute.

Members of Aslef at 16 train operators will stage three one-day strikes across different train operating companies between April 5-8 as well as an overtime ban from Thursday April 4 to Saturday April 6 and from Monday April 8 to Tuesday April 9, which may lead to short-notice cancellations.

Revised timetables for the strikes have been drawn up and passengers are being advised to check before they travel.

There will be changes to services across large parts of the network, with some train operators not running any services on strike days.

London Underground drivers who are members of Aslef are also set to strike for 24 hours on Monday April 8 in a separate dispute.

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, said: “We are sorry that this round of strikes called by the Aslef leadership risk disrupting journeys.

“While we are doing all we can to keep trains running and we will work with our industry partners to keep as many trains running as possible, unfortunately there will be reduced services between Thursday April 4 to Tuesday April 9.

“Our advice is to check before you travel and follow the latest travel information.”

Strikes will be held on the following days:

Friday April 5: Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, and CrossCountry.

Saturday April 6: Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern, and TransPennine Express.

Monday April 8: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR’s Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern (including Gatwick Express) Southeastern, South Western Railway.

Aslef has staged a series of strikes since the dispute started 20 months ago, arguing that drivers have not had a pay rise for years, despite many working through the pandemic.