In a further blow to commuters, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has announced a 48-hour strike on the London Overground in March.
While action on 19-20 February was called off and negotiations between the RMT and the Government are ongoing, if the strike goes ahead disruption will be expected next week, according to Transport for London (TfL).
This comes as union members have been walking out since the summer of 2022, making it well over 18 months since the UK was rail-strike-free.
There are also planned strikes that could impact commuters using train services, as members of the Aslef union will also walk out at the end of this week.
However, there are no Tube strikes planned for the London Underground after the RMT secured a pay rise for around 10,000 members on the network, the lowest paid will see their wages rise by between eight and 10 per cent.
When are the London Overground strikes?
If the planned industrial action goes ahead, RMT workers will strike on the London Overground will last from 12.01am on Monday 4 March to 11.59pm on Tuesday 5 March.
Any services that do run will be busier than usual, according to TfL.
Meanwhile, the Aslef walkouts will affect the LNER and Northern services will take place on Friday 1 March, but there will also be an overtime ban on the same services from 29 February to 2 March.
Which routes will be affected?
For the strike on 4-5 March, only the London Overground is set to be affected.
According to TfL, there will be reduced services before 8am and after 6pm on both days, affecting:
- Gospel Oak – Barking Riverside
- Stratford – Richmond/Clapham Junction
- Highbury & Islington – Clapham Junction/West Croydon/Crystal Palace/New Cross
The following stations will be closed during the strike:
- Haggerston
- Hoxton
- Rotherhithe
- Shadwell
- Shoreditch High Street
- Wapping
TfL has also warned that some additional stations may be closed at short notice, while other may be open but will have less staff available.
Aslef and RMT strikes typically affect 16 train companies, some of which operate services in and out of London. These are all the lines that tend to be affected:
- Avanti West Coast
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Great Western Railway
- LNER
- TransPennine Express
- C2C
- Greater Anglia
- GTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink)
- Southeastern
- South Western Railway
- Chiltern Railways
- Northern Trains
- West Midlands Railway
For the Aslef strike, LNER and Northern trains linking London with destinations including Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Inverness may also be affected.
Why is the strike happening?
Despite the London Overground strikes being suspended for February following progress in pay negotiations, there has not yet been any indication from the RMT that these latest round of strikes have been postponed.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said about the Overground strikes: “Our members are furious that they have been given a below-inflation pay offer and want to see an improvement that represents the value they bring to the company.”
Meanwhile, the Aslef union is striking to protest a below-inflation pay increase.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan, said: “We are fed up to the back teeth with the bad faith shown, day after day, week after week, and month after month by these two companies.
“We always stick to agreements which we make. These companies think they can break agreements – which they freely enter into – whenever it suits them. And they’re wrong. This is a shot across their bows and a sign of things to come.
“They need to stop what they are doing, start to behave properly and honourably, because their drivers – our members – are no longer prepared to be treated like this.”
Mick added: “These disputes are entirely separate from our national pay dispute with 16 train operating companies – although LNER and Northern are two of those TOCs – because we haven’t had a pay rise since 2019.”
This dispute with LNER over the “breaking of agreements” has been going on for nearly two years.