Train strikes 2022: When will rail workers walk out and how will it affect passengers at Northampton, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough

Train passengers across Northamptonshire are having to replan some summer journeys after rail unions confirmed more strike dates.

Rail, Maritime and Transport union members working for London Northwestern Railway and East Midlands Railway will walk out on July 27, August 18 and August 20 in a repeat of three days of action in June.

Another 24-hour walkout on July 30 by drivers working for West Midlands Trains, which operates London Northwestern Railway services, is likely to mean a complete shutdown.

RMT action by 40,000 members nationwide last month left train operators running skeleton services only between 7.30am and 6.30pm and had a knock-on effect on timetables the following day.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The rail industry and the Government need to understand that this dispute will not simply vanish.

“They need to get serious about providing an offer on pay which helps deal with the cost-of-living crisis, job security for our members and provides good conditions at work.

“Recent proposals from Network Rail fell well short on pay and on safety around maintenance work.

“Now Grant Shapps has abandoned his forlorn hopes for the job of Prime Minister, he can now get back to his day job and help sort this mess out.”

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: “It is incredibly frustrating the RMT has again chosen to disrupt our passengers, and even more so that they haven’t even put what was a fair and affordable two-year pay offer to their members.

"It is also deeply worrying that these strikes have clearly been designed to disrupt spectators heading to the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on July 28, an event of huge national significance.

“We have been clear that we can only fund an increase from our own budgets, and the only way we can afford that is by modernising working practices.

”The RMT’s rejection of our latest offer can only mean they want a pay increase to be funded either by more taxpayer support or higher passenger fares, neither of which we think are fair.”

ASLEF’s strike on July 30 involves drivers on eight train companies — including London Northwestern, which runs services between London, Northampton and the North West — and coincides with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the opening day of the English Football League season.

Leaders announced the walkout after rejecting a new offer from Network Rail which they described as “paltry”.

The offer was for a four percent pay rise backdated to January, another two percent next year and a further two percent conditional on achieving “modernisation milestones”.

ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: “These companies are offering us nothing, saying their hands have been tied by the government and that means, in real terms, with inflation running ahead at nine, ten and even 11 percent this year, according to which index you use, that they are being told to take a real-terms pay cut, and that is not acceptable.”

East Midlands Railway services from Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough will not be affected by the ASLEF action.