Rail Chaos Looms As Pay Talks Falter And Unions Warn Of Another Round Of Strikes

Union chiefs threatened a Christmas of chaos on the railroads last night as talks over pay and job security faltered.

The RMT warned that another round of industrial action was highly possible and blamed rail bosses for failing to table an improved offer. The union called off three 24-hour strikes at the eleventh hour earlier this month as expectancies of a breakthrough grew and both sides entered intensive talks.

But general secretary Mick Lynch last night said discussions with Network Rail had stalled. He said the bosses of 14 train companies involved in the dispute had also failed to make a formal request in writing despite nearly six months of discussions.

The RMT secured a fresh six-month mandate for walkouts last week, meaning strikes could continue into next summer.

It’s expected to target the Christmas and New Year holiday period to impose maximum damage at one of the most lucrative times of year for businesses and when families travel to see loved ones.

Mr Lynch, said last night that they’d been patient and had demonstrated good faith which hasn’t been returned.

The economy is estimated to have taken a £600 million hit so far because of the RMT strikes. The TSSA rail union last night said it would continue talks.

Passengers were already encountering extreme disruption due to line closures for £120 million of engineering works over the festive period. Network Rail will carry out 300 engineering projects, meaning all services from London Liverpool Street have been withdrawn.

There will also be no Southern services from London Victoria.

Liverpool Street will be closed from Christmas Day until January 2 as the work, including bridge building and track care, is carried out.

Greater Anglia, Stansted Express and c2c services will be hit by the shutdown. Southern and Gatwick Express services to or from Victoria will also be suspended over the same period. Numerous services will be diverted to London Bridge.

Avanti West Coast services between London Euston and Glasgow, which stop at Manchester and Birmingham, will run on a condensed schedule from Christmas Eve to December 30.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents operators, said any walkouts will only cause further distress for customers and struggling businesses.

What despicable human beings. People have had to spend years being away from their families or being locked down and now they’re trying to ruin Christmas for families when we finally need a bit of joy in our lives.

Thank goodness I work from home because now I can stick two fingers up at these people who are holding the general public to ransom.

It’s a poor service at the best of times and let’s not forget the cost of going by train which is ridiculously expensive, it’s all about greed, and most people will be staying home this Christmas because it’s going to be bleak as most people are skint thanks to Tory policies, but it might be good to remember that trains don’t just move passengers from A to B, trains are part of the food supply chain as well, and Mick Lynch gets an extremely good salary and a supremely comfortable Christmas while the fools who follow him get sweet FA.

Yep, good old Mick Lynch. He’s not losing any money but the strikers are. It’s a bit like the 80s when the miners were on their knees and Scargill was popping down to London to dine at the Ritz.

The public has had enough of all this drama. If the unions don’t like what they’re getting they should perhaps look for another job instead of creating stress and misery for us working folk while the paymasters couldn’t care less.