No Avanti West Coast services will run on Wednesday and Saturday, with limited running on Friday
By Sarah Easedale
BBC Wales news
Rail passengers in Wales are facing three days of disruption as the latest round of rail strikes begin.
Train drivers’ union Aslef is striking on Wednesday and Saturday, meaning no Avanti West Coast services in and out of north Wales will run.
There will also only be a limited service for north Wales from Crewe on Friday due to an RMT union strike.
Services in and out of Cardiff will also be affected on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Limited Great Western Railway services will be running between Cardiff and Bristol on Wednesday and Saturday, while there will be limited trains between the city and both London Paddington and Westbury on Friday.
Transport for Wales is not one of the 16 companies affected by the Aslef strike or 13 by the RMT strike, but warned its services would be extremely busy due to the “severely reduced timetable put in place by other operators”.
‘Last thing’ businesses need
North Wales Tourism boss Jim Jones said the strike action was “the last thing” under pressure local businesses need.
“If tourists encounter these cancellations, they in turn will cancel their bookings that they may have made six, seven, eight months ago, even last year,” he said.
“I understand the reasons for the strikes, however, I think it’s been going on long enough now and time is of the essence now to help us as an industry to get onto a firm and strong footing.”
Mr Jones said he “despairs” when visitors in north Wales are “let down” by the train network, and said that it was a “big, big disappointment”.
Why are railway workers striking?
Unions have said that any pay offer needs to reflect the rising cost of living, while rail industry bosses are under pressure to save money after a costly pandemic.
Aslef boss Mick Whelan told the BBC earlier this month that train drivers had not had a pay rise for four years, as a new pay deal had not been reached since their last agreement ended in 2019.
However, Transport Minister Huw Merriman said the pay of train drivers had “gone up by 39% since 2011… the highest increase of any employment group”.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the median pay for “train and tram drivers” is just under £59,000, while the average for all rail workers in 2022 was £45,919, or £39,518 if drivers are excluded.
On 5 May, RMT members voted to extend the strike mandate for another six months, while Aslef rejected an offer which would have seen drivers get a backdated pay rise of 4% for 2022 and a 4% increase this year.
Image source, Getty Images
ASLEF has said train drivers have not had a pay rise in four years
Andy Mellors, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast, said passengers should not attempt to travel at all on their trains on the 31 May and 3 June, as no trains at all would be running.
“We’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding during this time,” he said.
“We can only apologise for the further disruption to their journeys when Aslef and RMT members go on strike in a week which sees school holidays for many as well as a number of events including the FA Cup Final.”
