Railway chiefs are preparing to cancel thousands of trains across the UK during next week’s strike which is expected to paralyze services, as they have warned that the dispute will cost the industry with problems. cash up to £ 150 million.
The RMT union has announced plans for 40,000 workers to strike at both Network Rail infrastructure manager and 13 train companies on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in support of higher wages and against possible job cuts. most important industrial action that has affected the railways in 30 years. years.
Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, downplayed the chances of reaching an agreement to stop the strike and warned that industrial action was a “high-risk bet” on the union that would deepen the financial problems of the industry. .
Network Rail on Wednesday unveiled plans to operate only about 4,500 of the 20,000 normal daily trains on strike days and to close thousands of miles of track across areas of the country.
Trains will also run only 11 hours a day, between 7.30am and 6.30pm, and passengers have only been asked to travel if necessary.
Much of the rail network will be completely shut down, including most of Scotland and Wales, while services in England will not run west of Plymouth or on many branches.
The last trains to London will depart at 13.30 from Edinburgh, at 14.45 from Manchester and at 15.50 from Birmingham.
Some operators, including the north and south-east, have urged passengers not to try to travel and the interruptions are expected to last all week, as trains will be out of place at the end of the strike days.
London Underground RMT workers are also scheduled to go on strike on Tuesday, while the TSSA announced plans on Tuesday to vote for its members on industrial action on three more train operators, for a total of seven, as well. as Network Rail staff. The first time these strikes could begin is in late July.
Haines said talks with the RMT “have not gone as far as I expected” and that he “was not very optimistic” when it came to reaching an agreement.
The break in the week will cost the industry between £ 100 million and £ 150 million due to a combination of lost ticket sales and delayed engineering work, leaving less money on the table for staff pay rises. of RMT, he said.
“Once we have taken the pain next week, we will have about £ 150 million less money available as a system. The Treasury will have to decide to fund it… Or we will have to make more savings,” Haines said.
The RMT wrote to ministers on Wednesday demanding a meeting with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Chancellor Rishi Sunak on the dispute, saying the Treasury was “firing shots” at payment offers that present Network Rail and train companies.
The industry, which was effectively nationalized at the start of the pandemic and has received about £ 16bn in taxpayer support over the past two years, will not be able to offer a wage increase close to inflation, but it can go beyond public sector wage cap. 2 percent if it can produce efficiency savings, Haines said.
He said he was “deeply frustrated” by the unions’ refusal to accept modernization and changes in work practices, such as the use of drones to control the tracks or digital technology to check track tensions in instead of sending staff to the lines.
About 2,000 workers, or 5%, have left Network Rail in the last two years, including 1,500 through a voluntary compensation program, and the public body aims to cut back on the same number of jobs. work, which he believes can be achieved with more severance pay packages rather than compulsory dismissal.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Network Rail reforms were essential to creating a modern rail system, mainly due to the drop in passenger numbers since the pandemic. “The last thing we need to do now is alienate passengers who are just starting to get back on the network. . . this is a reckless and unnecessary strike. “
Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson dubbed industrial action “labor rail strikes” because the RMT has donated to a handful of Labor MPs, even though the union broke away from Labor 18 years ago.
But Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Johnson of not doing enough to prevent strikes, saying ministers had refused to sit down with union leaders.