Railway union workers industrial and strike action - 2022

[whole diary]

[Hafren]

Possibly something to do with the leasing arrangement with Hitachi & how much notice needs giving in order for them to turn out trains of different lengths to 'usual'?

That wouldn't be a surprise. I've had similar issues during engineering works, when the on-train announcement was that the use of a (full) 5 car set on the 'far' side of the blockade was because of something or other to do with the contract with Hitachi. (There would have been a full fleet from the previous night so it wouldn't have been a case of too few sets being that side of the blockade.)

I wondered if Maliphant and Fratton (re CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-WSB^» (Westbury - next trains) route) being off-limits would be a factor, although with fewer trains running the remaining depots would be turning out fewer sets than usual anyway.

[ChrisB]

Is it just strike notice that has to have 14 days notice or any action short of a strike as well? Or can the latter just begin whenever the union decides?

Also, just be a wee bit aware that new strike dates could be announced before these have completed, say on Friday….but yes, 14 days clear notice required for any more strikes, which of course can start & end at sny time within the 24 hours. A favourite used to be 1359 one day to 1358 the next day, which screwed two full days for one lost shift

[IndustryInsider]

I believe ‘Action short of a strike’ can be instigated and run whenever and for however long.

[TaplowGreen]

Never a good day for this to happen, but today of all days.......


Alterations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a person hit by a train between London Paddington and Reading all lines are closed.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Windsor & Eton Central will not be served. Disruption is expected until 17:30 21/06.
Customer Advice
Owing to the emergency services dealing with an incident train services between London Paddington and Reading, together with the line between Slough and Windsor & Eton Central are currently suspended.

Owing to the Industrial Action taking place today, resulting in special services being operated over parts the National Rail network, with some routes devoid of any service, it is very much regretted that alternative travel options are extremely limited.

[IndustryInsider]

Never a good day for this to happen, but today of all days.......

Two of the four lines reopened at Slough where the incident took place as you posted that message.  The reduced number of trains and passengers should mean that the area can cope with only half the line capacity available, though it looks as if Slough station will remain shut and the Windsor branch suspended for a while longer. 

You could argue that it is as near as you can get to a 'good' day for it to happen.

[TaplowGreen]

Never a good day for this to happen, but today of all days.......

Two of the four lines reopened at Slough where the incident took place as you posted that message.  The reduced number of trains and passengers should mean that the area can cope with only half the line capacity available, though it looks as if Slough station will remain shut and the Windsor branch suspended for a while longer. 

You could argue that it is as near as you can get to a 'good' day for it to happen.

Updated message

Due to a person hit by a train between London Paddington and Reading some lines are closed.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised. Windsor & Eton Central and Slough will not be served. Disruption is expected until 19:30 21/06.

Customer Advice
The emergency services are dealing with an incident and have been able to release two of the four tracks in the affected area for train services between London Paddington and Reading to resume operation. However, Slough and Windsor & Eton Central stations will not currently be served

[IndustryInsider]

Windsor branch suspended for the rest of the truncated days service.  Delays to services not directly affected at the time only 5-10 or so minutes as they go past on the relief lines.

[Electric train]

I believe ‘Action short of a strike’ can be instigated and run whenever and for however long.

Also known as working to rule.  Staff just do their contracted hours which for most Network Rail is 35 hours and would also have a big impact on the current contingency cover provided by managers and technical grades

[Bob_Blakey]

Out on the bike between Exeter and Dawlish / Rewe. 'Castles' very much in evidence with a few IET9's - RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) indicates that the former were running PLY^» (Plymouth - next trains)<>BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) hourly with the latter doing PLY<>PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) roughly every 2 hours. The Red Cow Level Crossing - north end of EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) for anybody not already aware - keepers were absent so the pedestrian gates had been padlocked shut. There was a small RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) picket opposite the north end of the TMD^▸ (Traction Maintenance Depot). Whilst waiting for the barriers to open I did clock a few unsuccessful attempts by the RMT crew to hand explanatory leaflets to queuing vehicle drivers.

[ChrisB]

More talks now planned for tomorrow...

[broadgage]

It is clear that some trains did run but that the disruption was significant.

Does anyone know if the disruption was as "good" as the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) expected ? If the disruption was "better" than expected than that seems likely to encourage more strikes.

If however the strike was less effective than was hoped, then that might discourage more strikes.

The RMT will no doubt declare the strike a great success, and "the railway" will no doubt claim that they ran more services than expected, and hope to do even better in future strikes.

Are there any more independent views ?

[TaplowGreen]

Windsor branch suspended for the rest of the truncated days service.  Delays to services not directly affected at the time only 5-10 or so minutes as they go past on the relief lines.

We can only hope that Her Majesty didn't fancy a night out in Slough tonight.

[IndustryInsider]

Bang goes even more public sympathy (to be fair, there was very little to lose)

A YouGov poll just released does indeed show more of the public 'oppose' the strikes than are 'for' them...but not by very much at all - a difference of just 8% in fact:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/rail-tubes-strikes-london-underground-oppose-support-new-poll-b1007535.html

[Oxonhutch]

We can only hope that Her Majesty didn't fancy a night out in Slough tonight.

I can only hope for Her Majesty that a night on the Slough tiles is never on her agenda.

[Timmer]

From what I’ve seen over the past few days, particularly today, Mick Lynch is definitely winning the media war making some big name MSM journos look rather foolish with their at times bizarre lines of questioning.

Grant Shapps on the other hand looked flustered and irritated in the two interviews I saw this morning with the PM later in the day asking the cabinet to support Grant.