Train strikes begin this week – full list of dates

Train strikes will affect commuters over several days starting this week and into next week.

The strikes by ASLEF will affect the services of 17 train companies.

Fresh industrial action and an overtime ban by drivers is likely to cause widespread disruption in an ongoing dispute over pay, the union said.

In some places there may be no services at all on strike days, and services that are running will start later and finish much earlier than usual – typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Here is a full list of the services affected by strikes and when.

Tuesday 30 January

Southeastern

Southern/Gatwick Express

GTR Thameslink

South Western Railway

SWR Island Line

Wednesday 31 January

Northern Trains

TransPennine Express

Friday 2 February

C2C

Greater Anglia

LNER

Saturday 3 February

Avanti West Coast

East Midlands Railway

West Midlands Trains

Monday 5 February

Chiltern

CossCountry

Great Western Railway

How can I stay in the loop?

National Rail urges anyone hoping to travel on strike and overtime ban days to use its Journey Planner to keep an eye on how services will be affected.

What has been said about the strikes?

The union claims drivers have not had a pay rise since 2019.

ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said: “We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it is now a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport. It’s clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.

“Many members have now not had a single penny increase in pay for half a decade, during which time inflation has soared and, with it, the cost of living. We didn’t ask for an increase during the pandemic, when we worked through lockdown, as key workers, risking our lives, to move goods around the country and enable NHS and other workers to get to work.”

He urged the government to “come to the table” to end the dispute.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “There are no winners from these strikes that will unfortunately cause disruption for our customers.

“We believe rail can have a bright future but right now taxpayers are contributing an extra £54m a week to keep services running post-Covid.

“Aslef’s leadership need to recognise the financial challenge facing rail.

“Drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly £65,000 for a four-day week before overtime – that is well above the national average and significantly more than many of our customers, who have no option to work from home, are paid.

“Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on the Aslef leadership to work with us to resolve this dispute and deliver a fair deal which both rewards our people, and makes the changes needed to make services more reliable.

“While we are doing all we can to keep trains running, unfortunately there will be reduced services between Monday 29 January to Tuesday 6 February, so our advice is to check before you travel and follow the latest travel information.”