Train strikes Manchester 2022: when is planned action, and which rail companies and routes are affected?

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) have announced strike action will take place across the country on 21, 23 and 25 June.

This comes as the union voted in favour of strike action last month. It should result in widespread disruption on routes across the UK including across Greater Manchester.

The RMT confirmed on Monday (20 June) that the latest round of talks had failed and that action will go ahead from tomorrow, saying in a statement: “Faced with such an aggressive agenda of cuts to jobs, conditions, pay and pensions, RMT has no choice but to defend our members industrially to stop this race to the bottom.”

Here’s what we know about the decision to strike, including what a strike might look like and which train companies that operate services through Manchester could be affected.

Why do union members want to strike?

Members of the RMT union have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action to assure higher wages, job security, and no compulsory redundancies.

Following the vote, which took place on 24 May, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Today’s overwhelming endorsement by railway workers is a vindication of the union’s approach and sends a clear message that members want a decent pay rise, job security and no compulsory redundancies.”

How many RMT members voted in favour of strike action?

40,000 RMT members who work for Network Rail and the various train companies based around the UK were balloted.

71% of those who voted took part in the vote with 89% voting in favour of strike action and only 11% voting against.

Which rail companies are affected?

Manchester train stations are part of some of the busiest in the country, with services passing through the city on their way to London, the midlands and Scotland.

Here are some of the routes in and out of Manchester which could be affected by the strike.

Avanti West Coast

Avanti says it will run around 25% of its normal weekday service on the Tuesday and Thursday and around a third of the normal service on the Saturday.

There will be one train an hour on the route between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston.

The first southbound train of the day will leave Manchester at 7.56am and the last one will depart at 2.47pm.

The train operator warns services will be extremely busy and people should also travel on strike days if absolutely necessary.

Strike information is being published on Avanti’s website.

CrossCountry

Services from Manchester Piccadilly can take passengers directly to London or Birmingham, or to connecting services that could head to various other parts of the UK.

Passengers can get to Wolverhampton and Coventry directly, as well as stations on the mainline down to London.

To see the full route map, visit the CrossCountry website.

Northern

Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road both have services which take passengers to towns and cities which include Liverpool, Stockport.

Services to Manchester Airport are also operated by Northern.

For the full route map of Northern, visit their website.

Transpennine Express

TransPennine Express has now released information about the services it will be running on the three strike days.

It said it will be running “around 10%” of its usual daily service across just four routes, two of which are Manchester Airport to Preston and Manchester Piccadilly to York.

That means that on the three strike days there will be no intercity services to a number of stations in Yorkshire and the North East, including Hull, Scarborough and Middlesbrough.

Customer are being asked to make essential journeys only and warned that services will be extremely busy and disruption should also be expected throughout the week around the strike days.

For full route information, viit the Transpennine Express website.

The train company have told customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on 25 and 26 June ahead of the final day of industrial action.

Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Service and Operations Director for TransPennine Express said: “Sadly, there will be widespread disruption to our services this weekend and we are reminding customers to only travel if absolutely necessary.

“An amended timetable will be in place on both Saturday and Sunday and anyone making an essential journey should allow plenty of extra time, check their journey before travelling as well as double checking the last service of the day.

“People heading to one of the major events taking place across our network this weekend are urged to seek alternative modes of transport.”

What is the full list of companies where staff will strike?

Including Network Rail, here is the full list of train services where staff have voted for strike action.

Network Rail

Chiltern Railways,

Cross Country Trains,

Greater Anglia,

LNER,

East Midlands Railway,

c2c,

Great Western Railway,

Northern Trains,

South Eastern

South Western Railway

Transpennine Express,

Avanti West Coast,

West Midlands Trains

The following company voted for action short of strike:

GTR (including Gatwick Express)

What has the union said following the first day of strike action?

Tuesday 21 June was the first of three days of strike action. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch commented on the turnout on this first day.

He said: “Today’s turnout at picket lines has been fantastic and exceeded expectations in our struggle for job security, defending conditions and a decent pay rise.

“Our members will continue the campaign and have shown outstanding unity in pursuit of a settlement to this dispute.

“RMT members are leading the way for all workers in this country who are sick and tired of having their pay and conditions slashed by a mixture of big business profits and government policy

“Now is the time to stand up and fight for every single railway worker in this dispute that we will win.”