'Do not attempt to travel' - Warning issued ahead of fresh rail strikes

People have been advised "do not attempt to travel" ahead of the latest ASLEF train drivers' strike.

Customers have been advised not to travel as there will be no Avanti West Coast services on Friday, 5 April.

There will be no Avanti West Coast trains on the West Coast Mainline and there will be no replacement services in place.

ASLEF members are withdrawing overtime between Thursday 4 to Saturday, 6 April and Monday 8 to Tuesday, 9 April.

Andy Mellors, Managing Director at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re sorry our customers will face disruption to their travel plans when ASLEF go on strike this Friday.

“Anyone with tickets for 5 to 8 April can make their journey on alternative days or claim a full refund.

"While our advice to all customers making journeys between 4 and 9 April is to check before you travel. We’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding during this industrial action.”

What are ASLEF members striking over?

The ASLEF strike is part of a long running dispute over pay. The programme of one-day rolling strikes is coupled with an overtime ban.

The ASLEF union say they want an increase in pay for train drivers, who say they have not had a pay increase since April 2019.

GS Mick Whelan said: "Our members voted overwhelmingly – yet again – for strike action.

"Those votes show – yet again – a clear rejection by train drivers of the ridiculous offer put to us in April last year by the Rail Delivery Group which knew that offer would be rejected because a land grab for all the terms & conditions we have negotiated over the years would never be accepted by our members."

There will also be no Northern services or Transpennine Express Services on Saturday, 6 April.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We are disappointed that ASLEF has chosen to call yet more strike action and we would encourage them to work with the rail industry so we can put an end to this dispute.

“We can only apologise to customers in the meantime for the significant disruption and inconvenience this action by ASLEF will cause.”

Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Experience & Transformation Director at TPE, said: “Unfortunately, strike action will once again, cause disruption to our services, as well as those across the country.

“Sadly, we won’t be able to run any trains at all on Saturday 6 April, and some services will be affected this week by further industrial action.”

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