ASLEF overtime ban: Northern Trains and Transpennine Express services to be impacted by action

Train services in and around Manchester are set to be impacted this week by ASLEF action which falls short of going on strike. Today (July 31) members start the first of a six day overtime ban. 

According to ASLEF the ban will “seriously disrupt” services as none of the train companies employ enough drivers to deliver the services they have promised passengers, and the government, they will run. The withdrawal of non-contractual overtime started at 12.01am on Monday July 31 and end at 11.59pm on Saturday August 5 at: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; Cross Country; East Midlands Railway; Greater Anglia; Great Western Railway; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway main line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains. 

Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: “We don’t want to take this action. We don’t want people to be inconvenienced. But the blame lies with the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, which refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%.

“The proposal they made on Wednesday 26 April – of 4% with a further rise dependent, in a naked land grab, on drivers giving up terms & conditions for which we have fought, and negotiated, for years – was not designed to be accepted.

“We have not heard a word from the employers since then – not a meeting, not a phone call, not a text message, nor an email – for the last twelve weeks, and we haven’t sat down with the government since Friday 6 January. That shows how little the companies and the government care about passengers and staff. They appear content to let this drift on and on.

“In contrast, we want a resolution. A fair resolution. That’s why we are taking this action, to try to bring things to a head. Then I can concentrate on my day job working with others in the industry to rebuild Britain’s railways for passengers, for business, and for this country.”

To keep up to date with the latest changes to train timetables in and around Manchester, visit Trainline.