Strike disruption for Midlands rail passengers

West Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Chiltern Railways and Avanti West Coast are among the firms affected

Rail operators have warned of major disruption in the West Midlands as part of a long-running dispute with train drivers union Aslef.

Union members across the country are staging a series of one-day strikes.

There are no rail services from West Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Chiltern Railways or Avanti West Coast on Wednesday due to an ongoing row over pay.

The firms said a ban on overtime would also affect services throughout the week.

Ed Mayne, the Aslef branch secretary, said: "We regret the fact we are having to take strike action today, but we do feel it's the only way that we can make our voices heard in this situation.

"We are basically being told that you can have a pay rise if you give up all your terms and conditions and that is just something that the majority of our members will not accept."

A spokesperson for Department for Transport said: "The transport secretary and rail minister have already facilitated a pay offer that would take train drivers’ average salaries up to £65,000 - almost twice the UK average salary.

"Aslef are the only union left striking after the government oversaw deals with all the other unions.

"Instead of causing passengers disruption, they should put this offer to their members and work with industry to end this dispute."

One rail-user at Birmingham New Street station said: "It's just a pain for everyone isn't it, but I can imagine for them it's equally a pain not getting paid enough."

Birmingham New Street station was also closed on Wednesday for maintenance work to be carried out, Network Rail said.

Birmingham New Street station was also closed on Wednesday so essential overhead line maintenance work could be carried out, Network Rail said.

"Without this work, there is an increased risk of the wires sagging during very warm temperatures which would cause widespread passenger disruption," a spokesperson said.

CrossCountry added that a strike among workers at other operators in the north of England on Thursday was expected to lead to more demand for its routes, particularly in Stoke-on-Trent, and warned people not to travel unless their journey was absolutely essential.

Branch secretary Ed Mayne said his members would not accept the current deal

The dispute over pay dates back two years and Aslef rejected an offer of 4% rises over consecutive years when the last offer was tabled in April 2023.

The deal was accompanied by conditions that drivers accept changes to training and agreed to negotiate new working patterns.

Rail Delivery Group, which negotiates on behalf of the rail companies, said it continued to "seek a fair agreement".

Spokesperson Robert Nisbet, said: "There is an offer on the table, please talk to us again to see whether we can find areas of common ground to restart the formal negotiations."

Rail passengers with advance or season tickets will be able to get refunds for services that are cancelled, delayed or rescheduled due to strikes.

Steve Hopkinson, CrossCountry's service delivery director, apologised that services would be affected and said the firm would be "working hard to run as many services as possible" over the week.