Rail strikes continue this week in and out of London in June with industrial action by RMT and Aslef members.

RMT union members are striking on June 2 with 20,000 catering, train managers and station staff set to walk out across the country. This marks three rail strikes within four days, with Aslef train drivers walking out on June 3, after strikes on May 31.

Elizabeth Line workers from the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association also walked out earlier this month, for the second time this year on Wednesday, May 24. The day was chosen as it marked the one-year anniversary of the £20 billion network opening.

Transport unions remain locked in pay disputes and are taking action as they are not satisfied with the offers they have received. But how much do rail workers currently earn?

How much do rail workers earn?

Rail workers–not including train drivers–earn a median salary of £36,800, according to the ONS.

The median salary for rail travel assistants, such as ticket collectors, guards, and information staff, is £33,310.

The median salary for rail construction and maintenance operatives–the people who lay and repair tracks–is £34,998.

Rail transport operatives, such as signallers and drivers’ assistants, earn a median salary of £48,750.

However, the RMT says the median salary for rail workers is closer to £33,000, because the ONS’s figures do not include cleaners’ salaries, while around 10,000 RMT members are cleaners.

How much do train drivers earn?

The median salary for train and tram drivers was £59,189 in 2021.

But train drivers are not part of the workers striking, as they are represented by their own union, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef), not the RMT Union.

Around 96 per cent of train drivers in Britain are a part of Aslef, and the other 4 per cent are not union members.