There is more chaos ahead for rail passengers with two further strikes announced in September.
Earlier this week it was announced that TSSA union members at nine train companies will take part in a 24-hour strike starting at midday on 26 September.
On Wednesday it was confirmed by union Aslef that train drivers at 12 rail companies will strike on 15 September.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: “We regret that, once again, passengers are going to be inconvenienced, because we don’t want to go on strike – withdrawing our labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for a trade union – but the train companies have forced our hand.
“They want train drivers to take a real-terms pay cut – to work just as hard this year as last, but for 10% less.
“Because inflation is now in double figures and heading higher – much higher, according to some forecasts – and yet the train companies have offered us nothing.
“And this for train drivers who kept Britain moving – key workers and goods around the country – throughout the pandemic and who have not had an increase in salary since 2019.”
More from UKTSSA boss Manuel Cortes blasted Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, on Wednesday morning, saying that he was getting in the way of real progress.
Read more:Who is going on strike in August and September
Advertisement“The dead hand of Grant Shapps is sadly stopping DfT train operating companies from making a revised, meaningful offer,” Mr Cortes said.
“Frankly, he either sits across the negotiating table with our union or gets out of the way to allow railway bosses to freely negotiate with us, as they have done in the past.”
The rail workers likely to be involved in the TSSA strike include the TransPennine Express, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, LNER and Southeastern.
The Aslef strike will involve members at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.
2:59 Rail strikes cause disruptionEarlier this summer, an RMT strike became the largest British rail industrial action in 30 years.
Unions across the country are trying to negotiate pay increases for their members that keep pace with surging inflation.
Britain’s rate of inflation hit a fresh 40-year high in August, causing more pain for cash-strapped households as the cost of living crisis worsens.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 10.1% in the 12 months to July, up from 9.4% in June and remaining at the highest level since February 1982, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.