Beat the January rail price hike: 10 ways to find cheaper train tickets December 23, 2016 Imagine the scene: It's 2 January, you're feeling a bit bloated and jaded after a week of Christmas excesses. You turn up to the rail station with a heavy heart as the reality of work sets in. The queues to renew your season ticket are horrendous and in the line of morose commuters you can [...]
RMT confirms Tube station staff strike dates – workers will walkout on 8-9 January 2017 December 22, 2016 The RMT union has confirmed that London Tube station staff will go on strike on the 8 and 9 January 2017. The union balloted over 3,000 members in November over the possibility of industrial action, with 85 per cent voting for strike action and 94 per cent for action short of a strike in the ballot. Workers are striking [...]
RMT’s Great Western Rail strike will go ahead tomorrow December 22, 2016 A Great Western Railway (GWR) workers' strike will go ahead tomorrow, the RMT union confirmed today. RMT members who are cleaners on the rail network will take industrial action over "serious bullying, claims of discrimination and poverty working conditions" on the GWR train cleaning contract operated by Servest UK. Members have been instructed not to book on for [...]
Southern rail court documents reveal Aslef has grander plans on driver-operated doors December 22, 2016 The drivers union at the centre of the Southern rail dispute doesn't simply want to stop further roll out of driver-operated doors, it is determined to ban the policy across all train services. The question of who operates Southern rail train doors is pivotal in the dispute that has led to waves of industrial action and blighted the network for much [...]
Buses for trains? Unions say government plans will boost Go-Ahead revenues December 21, 2016 Unions have once again accused the owners of Southern rail of cashing in on the industrial action that has blighted the network. During Parliamentary questions yesterday, rail minister Paul Maynard revealed officials were working with the bus and coach body, the confederation of passenger transport, to "determine how bus and coach operators can best assist with providing [...]
All Piccadilly line trains back in service, says TfL, after weeks of delays due to repairs December 20, 2016 All 79 Piccadilly line trains are in service again, bringing weeks of delays to a close. Around half of the Piccadilly line fleet was taken out of action last month so that repairs could be carried out, causing massive disruption to services ever since. But today, Transport for London (TfL) said a good service had resumed [...]
The Southern rail strike saga has cost the economy £300m already, says university study December 20, 2016 The Southern rail strikes are costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds, according to new research from the University of Chichester. A study, led by Dave Cooper, professor of management and economic development, has put the cost of the strike saga to the country's GDP at as much as £300m. The industrial action, carried [...]
The RMT wants a Christmas truce over Southern rail saga – but says it’s in the government’s hands December 20, 2016 The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union wants a Christmas truce over Southern rail – only it says it's up to the government to make it happen. Commuters are battling through today's second day of delays as a 48-hour strike goes on by guards over proposed changes to their roles. There have been months of [...]
As militant unions plot Christmas misery, should strike action on railway services be banned? December 20, 2016 Keith Prince, deputy chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, says Yes. Strike action on public transport can have a devastating impact on commuters. Southern’s passengers have suffered huge delays, cancellations and some have lost their jobs because they can’t guarantee they’ll be able to get to their desks. This appalling situation cannot be allowed [...]
Sorry, Southern rail commuters, your boss can still ask you to keep coming into the office December 19, 2016 Commuters who rely on Southern rail to get to and from the office will understand the pain of trying to keep calm and carry on during strike action. The rail services are being affected by a conductors' strike, orchestrated by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, today, tomorrow and from 31 December to 2 January. RMT [...]