LNER train drivers to strike for five more days

Train drivers' union Aslef has announced five consecutive days of strikes on LNER services in addition to wider industrial action.

Strikes on LNER, which operates on the East Coast Mainline, will begin on 5 February.

Train drivers for many rail operators are already striking between 30 January and 5 February in a long-running row over pay and conditions.

That period of strikes will see LNER drivers walking out on 2 February.

The BBC understands that Aslef called the further strikes in response to LNER - which was taken into government control in 2018 - informing the union that it would be implementing minimum service levels (MSL) on that day.

Under new laws, employers can require staff who are planning to strike to provide 40% of timetabled rail services.

Sources say LNER is the only one of the operators affected by the week of strikes that has told Aslef it intends to use the new rules.

In a statement, an LNER spokesperson said: "The MSL legislation is a new tool that has become available to us and we are exploring its use.

"Our priority focus remains on minimising disruption to customers during Aslef strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays."

Aslef's general secretary Mick Whelan has warned in the past that more industrial action would be "a natural by-product" of minimum service levels.

Meanwhile, Iain Stewart, chair of the cross-party Transport Committee, warned in December there was a risk that minimum service levels could "worsen worker-employer relations…making services less reliable".

On Thursday, Rail Minister Huw Merriman said the government hoped the minimum service levels would be implemented, but it was "a matter for the employers".

He said he would expect the train operators to "consider the will of parliament, and consider the passenger".

Rail strikes will affect the following companies based in England:

• Tuesday 30 January: Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink, South Western Railway and SWR Island Line

• Wednesday 31 January: Northern Trains, Transpennine Express

• Friday 2 February: Greater Anglia, C2C, LNER

• Saturday 3 February: West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway

• Monday 5 February: Great Western, CrossCountry, Chiltern and now LNER

• Tuesday 6 February - Friday 9 February: LNER