Train drivers at LNER to strike in row over terms and conditions

Rail services from London King’s Cross will be disrupted by the walkout on Saturday

Alan Jones
Friday 19 April 2024 12:04 BST
LNER services from London will be affected (PA)
LNER services from London will be affected (PA) (PA Archive)

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Rail services between London, the North and Scotland will be disrupted on Saturday because of a strike by train drivers.

Members of Aslef at LNER will walk out for the day in a dispute over terms and conditions.

The company said it will run a reduced service between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, and King’s Cross and Leeds.

The first train from London to Edinburgh will run at 7.30am and the last one at 4pm, while the first direct service to Leeds will depart at 10.30am.

Aslef members at the company are also refusing to work overtime this weekend.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: “Train drivers are fed up with the bad faith shown by this company, probably at the behest of the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, and the rail minister, Huw Merriman, and we are not prepared to put up with being bullied and pushed about by a company that thinks it can break agreements whenever it feels like it.

“We honour the agreements we make, because we are honourable people. Train companies should do the same.

“It’s two years since P&O sacked its workforce in a disgusting and disgraceful action that the Government allowed, but train companies in this country are not going to change our terms and conditions on a whim.”

The dispute is separate to the long running pay row between Aslef and 16 train operators, including LNER.

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