York train passengers face week of disruption as drivers ban overtime and strike

York train passengers are to face a week of disruption as train drivers ban working overtime and walk out in the long running pay row.

Members of the drivers’ union Aslef at 16 operators today (Monday, May 6) started a six-day overtime ban, which is expected to cause short-notice cancellations.

They will also stage three, one-day strikes across different operators between Tuesday (May 7) and Thursday (May 9), as part of a long running dispute over pay.

On Thursday drivers will walk at York-based LNER, which operates the East Coast Main Line; Northern, which runs services between York and Leeds; and TransPennine Express, whose services run from York to cities including Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, and to Malton and Scarborough.

Passengers are being urged to check before they travel, with services that do run on strike days starting later and finishing earlier than usual.

Rail companies said they will operate as many trains as possible but there will be regional variations.

In some places there may be no trains at all on strike days, and services that are running will typically run between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Northern and TransPennine Express said they will operate no services on Thursday.

LNER said it will be running a reduced service on the strike day.

Those who want to get a refund or amend tickets for journeys already booked can do so without the industry fee, the rail firm said.

No talks have been held between the union and train operators for more than a year, and for longer involving the government.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train operators, wrote to Aslef last week suggesting informal talks which could result in more formal negotiations.

'Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable' - union boss

Aslef said its members have not had a pay rise for five years.

The union has accused the government of “giving up” trying to resolve the dispute.

Mick 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.”

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary (Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)

He added: “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.”

A Rail Delivery Group (RDG) spokesperson said the rail industry is "working hard to keep trains running but it is likely that services on some lines will be affected on the evening before and morning after each strike between May 7 and May 9 because many trains will not be in the right depots to start services the following day”.

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They added: “We can only apologise to our customers for this wholly unnecessary strike action called by the Aslef leadership which will sadly disrupt journeys once again.

“It will also inflict further damage on an industry that is receiving up to an additional £54 million a week in taxpayer cash to keep services running, following the Covid downturn.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson added: “The Transport Secretary and Rail Minister have already facilitated a pay offer that would take train drivers’ average salaries up to £65,000 – almost twice the UK average salary.

“Aslef are the only union left striking after the government oversaw deals with all the other unions.

“Instead of causing passengers disruption, they should put this offer to their members and work with industry to end this dispute.”