Train strikes have caused frequent disruption for travellers during 2023 (Picture: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Train strikes have taken place regularly this year, disrupting many people’s travel to work and major events such as the FA Cup final and today’s Brighton Pride.

A ban on overtime by the train drivers’ union Aslef is currently affecting multiple lines, and unions have warned that strikes and industrial action could drag on for five years as negotiations with rail companies remain deadlocked.

The current overtime ban ran continues today Saturday, August 5, and is due to be followed by a further ban from Monday, 7 August to Saturday, August 12.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: ‘We don’t want to take this action – because we don’t want people to be inconvenienced – but the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, have forced us into this place because they refuse to sit down and talk to us.

‘They have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%.’

So could the action continue into September, as people return from summer holidays and children go back to school?

Let’s find out.

Will there be rail strikes in September?

At present, there are no planned rail strikes or industrial action set for September – but there is still time for unions to announce it.

ASLEF’s train drivers are currently taking action ‘short of a strike’ (Credits: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

Unions are obliged to give two weeks’ notice of strike action, and both the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and Aslef could do so, after members of both voted in favour of continued industrial action.

In May, members of the RMT union voted to renew their mandate to continue taking industrial action for the next six months, followed by Aslef members voting yes to renew their mandate in June.

Aslef’s Mick Whelan has warned that action could continue for years until a settlement is reached. He said there is ‘no waning in enthusiasm’ from members more strikes.

‘We would like a resolution tomorrow, we do not want to be on strike,’ he told Sky News.

‘We are in this if it takes us four years, five years, whatever it is, to get a resolution to this, we will do what it takes to get to that resolution.’

However, strikes at the end of July on the London Underground by the RMT and Aslef were called off after ‘real progress’ was made in negotiations. Aslef described those talks a ‘a major step forward’.

Which train companies are affected by the overtime ban?

Why are the unions striking?

The dispute is essentially over pay and conditions.

The Rail Delivery Group said the strikes were ‘totally unnecessary’, adding: ‘Until the union leadership and executive is united in what it wants and engages in good faith with the 30% shortfall in revenue the industry is continuing to grapple with post covid, it is difficult to move forward.’

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘My team of negotiators and I are available 24/7 for talks with the train operating companies and government ministers. 

‘Quite incredibly neither party has made any attempt whatsoever to arrange any meetings or put forward a decent offer that can help us reach a negotiated solution.

‘The government continues to shackle the companies and will not allow them to put forward a package that can settle this dispute.’

MORE : Walkouts, overtime bans and grounded planes: will strikes affect my summer travel plans in 2023?

MORE : Teachers accept 6.5% pay rise and vow to stop strikes

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