Manchester attack: Southern rail strike suspended following 'horrific' bomb attack

A rail strike planned to disrupt three rail companies this weekend has been cancelled after a bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union on Southern Railway, Arriva Rail North and Merseyrail were due to walk out for 24 hours on May 30.

But, after 22 people were killed and 59 injured in the bombing, the Union announced it had decided to suspend the industrial action.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "In light of the horrific bombing in Manchester and the heightened safety and security alerts on the transport service, the RMT executive has taken the decision to suspend the 24-hour strike scheduled for May 30 on Southern, Arriva Rail North and Merseyrail.

"Our thoughts and solidarity are with the people of Manchester."

Following the union’s announcement, a spokesman for Govia Thameslink Railway said: "This is an appropriate response by the RMT to the tragedy in Manchester."

In the initial statement, the spokesman added: "The union now needs to use this opportunity to agree to the very good offers we have made, including job guarantees, and work with us to future-proof the busiest railway in the UK for our passengers - most of whom simply want to get to their place of work each day.”

But the company later issued a "corrected" statement with the the latter comment deleted and replaced with: “We thank them for taking this step.”

The strike was originally planned as part of an ongoing dispute over driver-controlled operation on new trains.

Talks have been held between the RMT and Southern, without any breakthrough to the row over changes to the role of conductors to on-board supervisors (OBS).

It is not yet known whether it will be rearranged following the bomb attack.

Greater Manchester Police revealed that the suspected bomber was a lone male who detonated an explosive shortly the concert at Manchester Arena finished.

The venue was full of young fans and many of those injured were children.

Two victims have been named – 18-year-old Georgina Callander and eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos.

The alleged attacker was killed in the explosion and a second 23-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Police have named the suspect as 22-year-old Salman Abedi.