Rail strike Wales: RMT says it had to call strike vote
- Published
Strike action by the RMT union will mean barely any services running across Wales
A union has said it had to call a vote on strike action, as commuters in Wales and much of the rest of the UK face the biggest rail strike in 30 years.
Walkouts are planned on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Steve Skelly of the RMT in Wales said it had had none of the assurances it wanted from either the UK government or train companies.
Transport for Wales is not in dispute, but as Network Rail maintains tracks services in Wales will be hit.
Mr Skelly told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that "for some of our members this has been the third year of a pay freeze".
He said that "the reality is that we've had no other option but to ballot our members for industrial action because we haven't got any of the assurances either from the government or our employers that we are looking for in over two years of negotiations".
'Still willing to negotiate'
Mr Skelly said the union was still willing to negotiate and continue talks with the government and its employer, Network Rail, to resolve the dispute.
"There is no offer from the train operating companies in terms of a pay proposal and the offer that has been put forward to us on behalf of Network Rail is unacceptable."
Vivienne O'Connor, who is travelling for a cousin's funeral this week, said: "It's just a nightmare really, I wanted to come over for the funeral because like so many other people we'd had family pass away during Covid lockdown."
Marta Kotlarek, a mother-of-two and garden designer from Colwyn Bay, Conwy county, whose children commute to school by train, will have to drive them to school for their exams on Thursday as trains will not be running and taking time off work.
Gale Ashill says she will be driving into work as there are no trains from Barry to Cardiff Central on Tuesday
She told Radio Wales Breakfast: "People can't get to work, they can't get to school.
'We should just move on'
"There are lot of people like me who work in the private sector, if we go on strike we lose our weekly wages.
"Everyone is facing inflation, I think we should just move on."
Hospital worker, Colin Dayan, 61, who commutes from Bristol, said: "It will affect me for the next four days so I'll probably have to drive for two days and work from home for two days if that's possible."
Civil servant, Gale Ashill, 46, said: "I just heard there will be no trains whatsoever from Barry into Cardiff. I still need to get into Cardiff tomorrow, so I'll be driving, but obviously it's a bit of a pain."
Finance assistant Katie Vanstone, 41, from Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said: "I can still work from home but our company likes us to be in the office... (to) make a presence once a week, so thought I'd do it today before the rest of the action takes place."
Since the pandemic, passenger numbers are about 25% lower than they were.
Colin Dayan commutes into Cardiff from Bristol
Prof Andrew Potter from Cardiff University said more people were using the trains for leisure, so "growing revenue" could be a long-term answer.
"Ultimately it comes down to what the government financially wants from the railways. They're the main supply of funds that come into the railway apart from the passenger.
"Yes, revenue and passenger numbers are down but they have been growing particularly in the leisure market and that's perhaps why revenue hasn't kept up with passenger numbers quite so much.
'Only travel if necessary'
"It's about taking that long-term vision of what we want the railways to look like and how does the railway adapt.
"There might be some need to discuss job roles but it's also that avoiding of cutting everything simply because we've got to cut costs.
"It might be that growing revenue is a way of going forward, finding new ways of doing that could also be a way of going forward."
Katie Vanstone will be working from home on the strike days
Disruption is expected on non-strike days due to too few staff working.
Network Rail advised passengers to travel by train only if necessary in Wales, England and Scotland.
In Wales, only a handful of routes will run in Wales on strike days, with services from Radyr, Cardiff to Treherbert, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare.
A replacement bus service will take passengers from Radyr to Cardiff Central. Great Western Railway's Cardiff to Severn Tunnel route is the only other service that will run.
A replacement bus service will take passengers from Radyr to Cardiff Central
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said it is not for the UK government to intervene to stop rail strikes.
He said the RMT's request for a meeting was a "stunt" and the union was "determined to go on strike".
The strike will also affect freight services in Wales.
Tata said it had been told freight trains leaving Port Talbot should not be hugely affected by the rail strike. It expected about 85%, the equivalent of 61 out of the 71 planned freight trains, to leave this week.
Puma Energy which runs the former Murco site in Milford Haven is checking the impact of the strike on its operations.
Motoring group the AA said drivers in Scotland and Wales should expect to face long queues as most railway lines will be closed.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said some services will start to wind down earlier than normal on Monday evening, with details and times depending on the area. Customers are urged to check with their train operator directly.
Rail Delivery Group chair Steve Montgomery said rail bosses were trying to work with unions "on how to carry out modernisation and reform of the industry" amid falling passenger numbers.
"Ultimately we do want to give our people a pay increase... but we have to get on with reform, and that helps us deliver the next phase of giving people a pay rise."
- Published25 June 2022
- Published15 June 2022
