Aslef strike around Tory conference dates

[mandub]

30th Sept and 4th October

 

[DennisM]

30th Sept and 4th October

Attendees should take inspiration from the party leader, and book themselves a private helicopter, regardless of whether the trains are running.

 

[12LDA28C]

30th Sept and 4th October

Plus overtime/RDW ban on Friday 29th September and Monday 2nd - Friday 6th October inclusive.

 

[exbrel]

Attendees should take inspiration from the party leader, and book themselves a private helicopter, regardless of whether the trains are running.

realistically the travelling public have been using other means of travel since the industrial action was begun, so why not if they need to travel?

 

[AJM580]

Hi, just wondering what is the source of this announcement as I can find nothing on ASLEF sites. Hoping it won't affect plans for Clun Castle's tour out of Kings Cross.

 

[158801]

Where has this been announced?

 

[SargeNpton]

Where has this been announced?

On the ASLEF website...

ASLEF: Train drivers’ union announces industrial action and asks ‘Where’s Wally?’ | ASLEF

ASLEF have announced two days of strike action on 30 September 4 October

aslef.org.uk

ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, has today [Friday] announced another two days of strike action – on Saturday 30 September and Wednesday 4 October – and an overtime ban across the UK rail network on Friday 29 September and from Monday 2 to Friday 6 October.

The strike will force the train operating companies to cancel all services and the ban on overtime will seriously disrupt the network as the privatised train companies have always failed to employ enough drivers to provide a proper service – the service they promise passengers, businesses, and the government they will deliver – without asking drivers to work their rest days.

 

[scouseyb123]

Good.

 

[AJM580]

Thanks for confirming. I guess the tour I'm on will be cancelled.

 

[ar10642]

Good.

Yeah *this* one will work right?

Guess I'll be driving to the gig I was going to on that day then. People going to the Tory conference won't care either way.

 

[GoneSouth]

realistically the travelling public have been using other means of travel since the industrial action was begun, so why not if they need to travel?

Lucky them, for some of us rail is the only option!

 

[12LDA28C]

Thanks for confirming. I guess the tour I'm on will be cancelled.

Why is that? Not all tour operators recognise ASLEF and anyway it's the passenger TOCs that are affected, not charter operators.

 

[brad465]

Thanks for confirming. I guess the tour I'm on will be cancelled.

Who's running it? I'm sure there's been at least one count I can recall on here of a railtour running on an ASLEF strike day. If anything you might get a clear run all the way.

 

[AJM580]

It's Vintage trains. The only thing is that the tour starts in London and I live in Norwich, so as I don't drive, the train was the only option of getting there. I'll have to see what happens.

 

[MikeWM]

Targetting the Tory conference obviously achieved a lot when it was tried last year so why not do the same again?

Good job I decided to choose Wales for my holiday that week. Though getting home on the 6th may now be rather more complex than I was hoping...

 

[yorkie]

Does anyone have an idea of the likely LNER timetable between York & Newcastle on Saturday 30th?

 

[Kite159]

Here we go again. Maybe round 10 will get a different result but I very much doubt it. The unions need to be careful as the government might go down the nuclear route if they know they won't get re-elected, leaving the mess for the next government to try and sort out.

 

[Horizon22]

It's Vintage trains. The only thing is that the tour starts in London and I live in Norwich, so as I don't drive, the train was the only option of getting there. I'll have to see what happens.

Greater Anglia tend to be one of the companies that does at least run a skeleton service - something like 1tph (or 1tp2h) Norwich to London with extra stops to a normal pattern, but you’d have to check nearer the time.

 

[12LDA28C]

It's Vintage trains. The only thing is that the tour starts in London and I live in Norwich, so as I don't drive, the train was the only option of getting there. I'll have to see what happens.

In which case the train should not be affected however if enough people cancel due to not being able to get to the train, it might get caped/postponed due to low bookings.

 

[londonbridge]

Where has this been announced?

Also announced on BBC News:

Train drivers announce two more strike days https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66817630

Train drivers have announced two more strikes as part of a long-running dispute with rail companies over pay.

The Aslef union said its members at 16 train companies would walk out on 30 September and 4 October.

It added an overtime ban for drivers across the rail network would take place on Friday 19 September and for five days from 2 to 6 October.

 

[Lost property]

Attendees should take inspiration from the party leader, and book themselves a private helicopter, regardless of whether the trains are running.

Well there are spaces near the Midland where a helicopter could land, but, surely, being "one of us" and just a regular billionaire, he could take a National Express coach to Chorlton St ....it's only a short amble from there after all.

 

[Ivor]

Lucky them, for some of us rail is the only option!

Ditto

So will the RMT now announce dates shortly?

 

[Bantamzen]

Targetting the Tory conference obviously achieved a lot when it was tried last year so why not do the same again?

Good job I decided to choose Wales for my holiday that week. Though getting home on the 6th may now be rather more complex than I was hoping...

Wait you don't think it will work this time, and the Tory delegates won't just find other ways to get there....

This announcement frankly smacks of desperation! Sorry, I mean "yeah, sock it to 'em, they won't know what hit 'em...!!"

 

[MikeWM]

Well, after checking this turns out to wreck my plans for the 4th, which relied on GWR services in south Wales in order to make various connections. Thanks ASLEF, much appreciated

That's almost 18 months now of not being able to make concrete plans more than a couple of weeks in advance (immediately following on from 2 years of the same issue for other reasons). Other than annoying those of us who rather used to enjoy travelling on the railway, to the point where some of us are increasingly tempted to find alternatives and give up on trains more or less entirely, what exactly is being achieved here?

 

[brad465]

Ditto

So will the RMT now announce dates shortly?

RMT appear to be in further talks at the moment, so haven't announced anything else.

 

[jhy44]

Very glad that I've now bought my first ever car and abandoned using the railway as ever an option, due to the relentless strike action rendering them unreliable and thus un-usable for anything other than a last minute journey, otherwise that would be both legs of my Midlands-Heathrow journey and thus my overseas trip ruined.

Sad really that I've gone from advocating people switch from car to rail, to doing the exact opposite.
I wonder if ASLEF/RMT are actually in the pocket of the anti-railway lobby, as their recent behaviour has done more to damage the railways' future in this country than Beeching or the Tories ever did.
No one in my family uses the train anymore, we drive or those who don't drive now take the coach/megabus; which they've discovered is both cheaper and not on strike multiple days per month.

 

[baz962]

Just lock this thread now , before people start throwing crockery. We know the dates and there is nothing else to discuss.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Easy to say now, but I did look at the date of the Conservative party conference and note that it was extremely likely that Saturday would be a strike date, given what happened last year and the gulf between the parties.

If the dispute still hasn't been resolved by August 2024, I would recommend taking a note of the conference date that year, as it's pretty much guaranteed to be the same again.

 

[Smidster]

Well if the previous 20 dates did precisely nothing I am sure that this will be the time the Government rolls over.

Yet again the only thing this is doing is punishing the public who rely on a service to live - We are the only people who are suffering here and no-one gives a damn.

I get it, you don't like the Government - but they are not going to change their minds so stop taking it out on passengers and hope that there is a friendlier face on the other side of the table in 12-months (though there will be no more money and you are at the bottom of a very long priority list)

 

[12LDA28C]

Sad really that I've gone from advocating people switch from car to rail, to doing the exact opposite.
I wonder if ASLEF/RMT are actually in the pocket of the anti-railway lobby, as their recent behaviour has done more to damage the railways' future in this country than Beeching or the Tories ever did.

Strange that you don't consider the Tories even remotely responsible given that they could have settled this dispute over a year ago by offering a no-strings pay deal (even well below inflation). All down to those nasty militant unions, yes?