Introduction: Passengers face more disruption as rail strikes begin
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the economy, business and the financial markets.
Passengers have been warned to expect major disruption on the railway network today as rail workers hold their second 48-hour strike this week.
Train services around Britain will be severely disrupted, as members of the RMT union begin their latest strike in the ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
Passengers have been advised to only attempt to travel by train if necessary.
National Rail say it is “inevitable that services will be cancelled or severely disrupted”, with a limited service on the network and likely to be no trains at all on some routes.
Around 20% of normal services are expected to run between 7.30am and 6.30pm on both Friday and Saturday.
Morning all 👋 Cat in the tweet seat for the early shift, I’ll be here to answer your questions until 2pm 🕑
📢 Industrial action is taking place today, check before travelling at https://t.co/iAeX1MOboK📢
❄️ Be careful at stations and on platforms during this cold weather❄️ pic.twitter.com/Hq0olxQ8wg
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) December 16, 2022
Eurostar is running a revised timetable between 13 and 17 December, due to the strike action.
Motorists in parts of England could also potentially face worsened disruption, with the first of 12 days of rolling regional strikes by members of the PCS union at National Highways also starting on Friday.
Although no roads will be closed, any major incident could result in longer delays with fewer control room staff or traffic officers available.
Here’s our latest news story on the rail strikes:
Today’s RMT strike is taking place after a meeting on Thursday failed to break the deadlock.
“RMT attended talks convened by the rail minister Huw Merriman tonight (Thursday) including Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group and agreed to further discussions.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the minister requested further talks between the RMT and the employers in order to find resolutions, adding that:
“These meetings will be arranged but, in the meantime, all industrial action remains in place.”
However, members of a smaller union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), at Network Rail have voted to accept an improved pay deal.
The TSSA said yesterday union it has already suspended strike action, after 85% of its members voted in favour of the offer, which includes a minimum 9% pay rise by January, job security to 2025, and guarantees on terms and conditions.
The offer, a two-year deal covering the missed January 2022 pay rise and 2023, was rejected last week by the RMT, though.
Another strike scheduled for today, amongst ground handling staff at Heathrow, has also been suspended while an improved pay deal is put to staff. That should avert disruption at the airport this weekend.
The agenda
-
7am GMT: UK retail sales for November
-
9.30am GMT: Flash PMI survey of UK services and manufacturing sectors
-
10.30am GMT: Russia central bank sets interest rates
Key events
UK strike days calendar
You can keep track of the strikes and stoppages planned this month across the UK’s health, transport and postal networks here:
Merseyrail are running a limited train service today and tomorrow, due to the RMT strikes. The details are here.
They explain:
Whilst Merseyrail staff are not part of this industrial action, it will involve Network Rail staff who operate the signalling systems and provide maintenance support.
Merseyrail, which runs services in the Liverpool City Region, has also been hit by the cold weather gripping the UK this week. A points failure means a rail replacement bus service is in operation between New Brighton & Birkenhead North.
Otherwise, there won’t be rail replacement buses on strike days.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) who work at National Highways are holding the first of 12 days of industrial action today, in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Today’s action involves road traffic officers and control room operators in the north-west, Yorkshire, Humber and the north-east regions.
There are fears that the walkouts could cause major delays on England’s motorways and bring A-roads to a “standstill” over the festive period, with long traffic jams.
The action is likely to have an impact on signs and signals being set up to warn motorists of blockages and incidents, a reduced ability to respond and deal with collisions, and delays in re-opening carriageways and motorways, according to the PCS.
Three weeks of strike action is planned. PCS members who work for National Highways will strike:
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in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber today and Saturday
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in London and South East from 22-25 December
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in the West Midlands and South West on 30 and 31 December
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in the East Midlands and Eastern region on 6 and 7 January.
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all members will strike together on 3 and 4 January.
On Friday our striking DVSA & RPA members will be joined by National Highways. There will be picket lines at test centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Gosforth, Kirkcaldy, Middlesbrough & the National Highways Control Centres in Wakefield and Newton-le-Willows. https://t.co/UffrOi4FrJ pic.twitter.com/PNbX27qWI6
— PCS Union (@pcs_union) December 15, 2022
London’s Paddington station would normally be bustling with commuters in the rush hour, but it’s unusually quiet this morning.
The BBC’s Marc Ashdown is there, and reported that there are only ‘a few trains’ on the departure boards.
Rail network operators are warning passengers only to travel if ‘absolutely necessary’ on strike days.
The message is:
The railway will operate limited opening hours with services starting later than normal and finishing in the late afternoon.
Some stations will not be served on strike days. Please check your first and last trains carefully, as there will be no alternative travel outside of these services.
Introduction: Passengers face more disruption as rail strikes begin
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the economy, business and the financial markets.
Passengers have been warned to expect major disruption on the railway network today as rail workers hold their second 48-hour strike this week.
Train services around Britain will be severely disrupted, as members of the RMT union begin their latest strike in the ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.
Passengers have been advised to only attempt to travel by train if necessary.
National Rail say it is “inevitable that services will be cancelled or severely disrupted”, with a limited service on the network and likely to be no trains at all on some routes.
Around 20% of normal services are expected to run between 7.30am and 6.30pm on both Friday and Saturday.
Morning all 👋 Cat in the tweet seat for the early shift, I’ll be here to answer your questions until 2pm 🕑
📢 Industrial action is taking place today, check before travelling at https://t.co/iAeX1MOboK📢
❄️ Be careful at stations and on platforms during this cold weather❄️ pic.twitter.com/Hq0olxQ8wg
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) December 16, 2022
Eurostar is running a revised timetable between 13 and 17 December, due to the strike action.
Motorists in parts of England could also potentially face worsened disruption, with the first of 12 days of rolling regional strikes by members of the PCS union at National Highways also starting on Friday.
Although no roads will be closed, any major incident could result in longer delays with fewer control room staff or traffic officers available.
Here’s our latest news story on the rail strikes:
Today’s RMT strike is taking place after a meeting on Thursday failed to break the deadlock.
“RMT attended talks convened by the rail minister Huw Merriman tonight (Thursday) including Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group and agreed to further discussions.”
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the minister requested further talks between the RMT and the employers in order to find resolutions, adding that:
“These meetings will be arranged but, in the meantime, all industrial action remains in place.”
However, members of a smaller union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), at Network Rail have voted to accept an improved pay deal.
The TSSA said yesterday union it has already suspended strike action, after 85% of its members voted in favour of the offer, which includes a minimum 9% pay rise by January, job security to 2025, and guarantees on terms and conditions.
The offer, a two-year deal covering the missed January 2022 pay rise and 2023, was rejected last week by the RMT, though.
Another strike scheduled for today, amongst ground handling staff at Heathrow, has also been suspended while an improved pay deal is put to staff. That should avert disruption at the airport this weekend.
The agenda
-
7am GMT: UK retail sales for November
-
9.30am GMT: Flash PMI survey of UK services and manufacturing sectors
-
10.30am GMT: Russia central bank sets interest rates
