Virgin Trains has cancelled its west coast train services next Monday and Tuesday and plans only a very limited east coast timetable, although talks continue between Network Rail and unions over the planned bank holiday strike.
Other operators have drawn up contingency plans for vastly reduced services should the industrial action go ahead, after Network Rail urged passengers to be prepared for massive disruption next week.
The track operator and the unions have signalled their willingness to continue talking to avert the strike, after rail workers voted overwhelmingly to reject a four-year pay deal. The pay offer consisted of a one-off £500 bonus but wages would be frozen this year and then held at inflation, with only a limited guarantee against feared mass redundancies.
The RMT and the TSSA unions have given notice of a 24-hour walkout from 5pm on Monday. Talks have entered a third day at the conciliation service Acas.
Virgin, whose services were already expected to be disrupted by engineering work across the mainline on the Monday, decided that the complications made blanket cancellations the best solution. It has not ruled out restoring trains if an agreement is reached.
Customers with advance tickets for those dates will be able to travel on Sunday or Wednesday.
The train operator announced on Wednesday that it was scrapping all services on Monday and Tuesday on the west coast mainline between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. On the east coast line, Virgin recommends customers whose plans are flexible to travel on Sunday or later in the week, when existing tickets would be valid.
On Monday, east coast services will operate as normal until early afternoon, with the exception of services in Scotland beyond Edinburgh. There will be no Virgin services to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Inverness.
On Tuesday, a limited number of trains are likely to run on Virgin’s London-Leeds and London-York-Newcastle routes from late morning to early afternoon.
Network Rail’s chief executive, Mark Carne, said: “We are continuing to talk with the unions and we believe there is a settlement to be had. I sincerely hope we can reach one and my team will be available all week, and into the weekend if necessary, to find a deal to prevent strike action.
“From the start of negotiations we made clear that we want to reward our staff for the incredible job they do, but that any pay rise needs to be linked to smarter, more effective ways of working. We can’t bank on the unions calling off the strike, so we are now concluding our contingency plans so passengers can make decisions about their journeys.
“If the strike goes ahead, it’s important that people check before travelling and are aware of the special measures put in place by train operators for people who have already booked tickets.”
The RMT said it was continuing to push for a negotiated settlement and would be available for talks at the weekend if necessary, but warned that its strike arrangements had “rock solid support” from its members.
The union’s general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “We would remind the public that we have been forced into this dispute through a wholly unwarranted attack on safety-critical jobs, pay and working conditions that would seriously undermine the safety of passengers on our railways into the future.
“RMT members are standing up for the principle of a properly staffed and resourced railway where safety comes first and where corners aren’t cut to hit budget targets.”
Train operators have been drawing up contingency plans in conjunction with Network Rail, with most expected to issue amended timetables this week should talks not reach a successful conclusion on Wednesday.
A legal challenge by Network Rail against the TSSA ballot is listed for Thursday afternoon in the high court.
Should the strike go ahead, First Great Western, Abellio Greater Anglia, Southeastern, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry Trains, Arriva Trains Wales, ScotRail and c2c have warned passengers to expect considerable disruption.
National Express, the UK’s largest coach operator, said it would be adding 18,000 seats to its network to meet demand from passengers affected by the strike.
In a separate development, train drivers at Southern, one of the country’s busiest rail operators, have voted to go on strike in a row over pay. Members of the Aslef union backed walkouts by 91% and other forms of industrial action by 95%. The turnout was 85.3%.
Aslef said it would meet Southern bosses on Thursday to try to resolve the dispute.
