New UK-wide train strikes to take place this May - full list of 16 affected rail operators

Train drivers across the UK are to strike next month, one union has confirmed.

Members of Aslef, the train driver's trade union, will stage a series of one-day walk outs beginning on May 7 and ending on May 9 affecting 16 passenger operators. At the same time, strikers will also take part in a six-day overtime ban.

Some 96 per cent of all the train drivers in Britain belong to Aslef, the Mirror reports. While the majority of operators run routes through England, some including Avanti West Coast, LNER Northern, Transpennie Trains and CrossCountry ride routes through Scotland, with passengers likely to be affected.

The move comes amid pay disputes for drivers who have not had a salary increase in five years, since their last pay deals expired in 2019. Union chief Mick Whelan said it has been a year since they had been in a room to negotiate an offer with train companies, after Aslef rejected a "risible" one they made.

Aslef first balloted for industrial action in June 2022, after three years without a pay rise. Since then, Aslef has called 14 national one-day strikes during this two-year dispute. As well as taking strike action, members of the union will also refuse to work non-contractual overtime from Monday, May 6 to Saturday, May 11, which is likely to affect services.

Mr Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: "It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies – and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected.

"Since then train drivers have voted, again and again, to take action to get a pay rise. That’s why Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members.

"Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable. They don’t. And that offer – now a year old – is dead in the water."

He continued: "Our pay deals at these companies ran out in 2019. Train drivers at these TOCs (Train Operating Companies) have not had an increase in salary for five years. That is completely wrong. The employers – and the government – think we are going to give up and run away. They’re wrong. In the words of Tom Petty, we won’t back down…"

Read below to see which train operators will be affected by walkouts in May.

All 16 rail companies affected by rail strikes next month

Companies striking on Tuesday, May 7:

• c2c

• Greater Anglia

• GTR

• Great Northern Thameslink

• Southeastern

• Southern/Gatwick Express

• South Western Railway main line and depot drivers

• SWR Island Line

Companies striking on Wednesday, May 8:

• Avanti West Coast

• Chiltern Railways

• CrossCountry

• East Midlands Railway

• Great Western Railway

• West Midlands Trains

Companies striking on Thursday, May 9:

• LNER Northern Trains

• TransPennine Trains

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