Much of the UK has stalled in the biggest strike to hit the country’s railways in 30 years, as Boris Johnson warned that the sector needed to modernize or “fail”.
Rail passengers across the country have been forced to stay home after warnings to avoid all but the essentials, with only a fifth of the main line trains and many lines completely closed.
With only skeleton services for travelers to London and other cities, there were no trains on large sections of the network during rush hour.
The Prime Minister called on “union barons to sit down with Network Rail and train companies” to agree on reforms such as the phasing out of ticket offices.
RMT union members have abandoned the dispute over wages, internships and possible layoffs, including 40,000 employees of Network Rail infrastructure owner and staff of 13 train companies. More strikes are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. London Underground staff also went on strike for a day on Tuesday.
RMT management is pushing to raise wages from 7% to 8% to offset inflation which is expected to reach 11% this year. But Johnson called at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday for wage discipline to curb inflationary pressures, though he argued that modernizing the railroad was essential.
“I say this to the whole country: we must prepare to stay the course,” he added. “These improvements in the way we manage our railways are in the interest of the traveling public. If we don’t do this, these big companies, this big industry, will face more financial pressure, it will go bankrupt.”
Passengers at Waterloo station during the first day of the national rail strike on Tuesday, when London Underground staff also went on strike © Henry Nicholls / Reuters
There is uncertainty about when official negotiations will resume to end the strike. Network Rail is expected to resume talks on Wednesday and its chief negotiator visited a line of RMT pickets on Tuesday morning, but the union said that while it was open to talks, it had not formally received any invitations.
Mick Lynch, head of the railway union, said the RMT “has no choice but to defend our members”. He blamed the government for “blocking” the railway industry’s payment offers and using the pandemic as an excuse to impose “transport austerity”, including the closure of all ticket offices.
Drivers are members of a different union and are not on strike, while the sector has called for managers and other front-line workers to work on the platforms and signal boxes.
The train will close at 6.30pm, and the last trains between London and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh will leave before 4.00pm.
The disruption is likely to persist on days between official strikes, especially in the morning, as trains will be out of place for their schedules.
Mick Lynch, head of the RMT, said the union “had no choice” but to continue the strike © Stefan Rousseau / PA
Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, said he “deeply” regretted passengers for the disruption, but blamed the RMT for refusing to commit, including “archaic” work practices.
He said Network Rail had written to the RMT threatening “less than 2,000” layoffs, but hoped they could volunteer.
Haines added that ministers have agreed that Network Rail could go beyond the public sector wage cap and offer an increase of more than 3% due to the huge margin of productivity gains within the industry.
Although the government has refused to negotiate directly with the RMT, in fact, ministers control the finances of the industry.
Network Rail is state-owned, while the Department of Transportation sets annual budgets for services managed by private train operating companies under the changes of the coronavirus pandemic era.
Business leaders warned that the strikes would further affect sectors that had just recovered from the economic impact of Covid-19.
UKHospitality estimated that the strike will cost the industry between £ 540m and £ 1bn as thousands of people are unable to travel across the country, hurting bars, hotels, clubs, theaters and restaurants.
“This week, we’re seeing people cancel events, but they don’t feel comfortable changing them because they’re not sure when the next strikes will come,” said Kate Nicholls, executive director of the hotel industry group.
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He said the strike could “deal a fatal financial blow to those companies that are already struggling to survive”.
The strike means more people are likely to stay home during the week than at any time since the last pandemic confinement, giving another success to city center businesses.
“I’m grateful they kept the trains running during the pandemic, but we’ve all come to work too. We pay a lot of money (£ 150 a week) to get on and off and we need better service,” said John Brett, a manager. who lives in Brighton and travels to London every day due to the pandemic.
But the Covid-driven adaptation to remote work has made industrial action unlikely to be as disruptive as previous shutdowns.
The number of passengers on UK railways has recovered to around 80% of its pre-pandemic levels this month, but rail industry executives said many passengers with longer journeys have stayed away.
Freight services will be prioritized during the week, but supply chains in the UK will be under a new strain. 30 to 40 percent less freight is expected to be transported by train during the week, and the strikes “will add additional risk to already fragile supply chains,” said Maggie Simpson, head of the group. rail freight.
Priority will be given to supply to power plants and supermarkets, but Simpson said the flow of building materials, 40% of which is transported by train, could be disrupted.