Guide to rail services affected by new round of strikes

The strike action has been announced by the ASLEF Union and the RMT Union which will take place on Wednesday and Thursday at various operators, while drivers are also banning overtime until Saturday, which is also causing disruption.

Passengers are being urged to check before attempting to travel by train this week as the dispute is now the rail industry’s longest.

There will be no rail services in the region on Wednesday, with Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway services not operating at all and limited. services the rest of the week.

Today, Birmingham to Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton to Rugeley via Birmingham and Walsall, Cross City Lines and Snow Hill Lines also have reduced services.

For services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, trains at 1.40pm, 6.40pm, 9.40pm and 10.40pm will not operate, while trains at 2.56pm, 4.56pm, 5.26pm, 6.10pm , 20:04 and 22:56 will not run between Birmingham and Shrewsbury. to function.

A large number of services do not run between the various stations in Wolverhampton and Rugeley.

The 11.22pm service between Birmingham New Street and Rugeley will not operate, nor will the 4.00pm service from Birmingham New Street to Walsall or the 5.48pm and 8.18pm services between Wolverhampton and Walsall.

In addition, the 22:48 service from Wolverhampton to Birmingham New Street will not operate, while the 16:37, 19:07 and 21:37 services from Walsall to Wolverhampton are cancelled, as are services at 10.33pm, 11.31pm and 12.02am from Birmingham New Street. at Wolverhampton.

Over the Cross City to Lichfield line, services may be shorter than usual, with passengers urged to travel at quieter times if possible, while the 16.09 service between Lichfield and Birmingham New Street and the 15.06 service between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield are both cancelled. .

Finally, on the Snow Hill Lines, the 14:24 and 17:24 services between Kidderminster and Whitlocks End have been cancelled, as have the 12:47, 13:47 and 15:47 services between Whitlocks End and Kidderminster.

Other services from Kidderminster have also been cancelled, including the 15.24 and 19.54 to Birmingham Snow Hill and the 16.35 service to Stratford Upon Avon.

After no services at all on Wednesday, there will be a limited return to services on Thursday and Friday, with some trains not running.

For services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, the 7.10am, 6.40pm, 9.40pm and 10.40pm trains will not operate, while the 5.56am, 5.26pm, 8.04pm and 10.56pm services between Birmingham and Shrewsbury will not operate.

Again, the 11.22pm service between Birmingham New Street and Rugeley will not operate, with these cancellations applying on both days.

There is a glimmer of hope that negotiations will begin in a bid to resolve the dispute after the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) invited Aslef to discuss exploring any common ground that could break the impasse.

There have been no formal talks between the operators and the union for a year or more involving a transport minister.

Aslef said its members had not had a pay rise for five years and accused the government of “giving up” on trying to resolve the dispute.

A GDR spokesman said: “The rail industry is working hard to keep trains running, but services on some lines are likely to be affected in the evening before and morning after each strike between May 7 and May 9 as many trains will not be affected. be in the right warehouses to start next day services.

“We can only apologize to our customers for this completely unnecessary strike called by Aslef management, which will unfortunately disrupt travel once again.

“It will also cause further damage to an industry that receives up to £54m a week in taxpayers’ cash to keep services running in the wake of the Covid recession.”

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “The Transport Secretary and the Rail Minister have already facilitated a pay offer which would take average train driver wages up to £65,000 – almost double the UK average wage.

“Aslef is the only union left on strike after the Government oversaw the agreements with all other unions.

“Instead of causing disruption to passengers, they should offer this offer to their members and work with the industry to end this dispute.”

National Express is offering thousands of extra seats this week to cope with increased demand during train drivers’ strikes.

The coach operator has announced an additional 7,500 seats on its most popular routes.

National Express said 19 million people traveled on its bus network in 2023, a 25% increase on 2022.

Since rail strikes began in June 2022, National Express has recorded around 1.3 million new passengers traveling on its services on days of industrial action during rail strike days.

John Boughton, Commercial Director for National Express, said: “The rail strikes have been a fantastic opportunity for us to highlight how good our coach services are, particularly to those who have not considered traveling with us before.

“People make the switch because we’re reliable, great value, and they’re guaranteed a seat. That makes us very attractive compared to the train.

“Through significant investment in our services and improvements to the customer experience, we’re making it even easier for people to travel without having to worry about unaffordable fares or constantly wondering if trains are running.”