Southeastern warns passengers not to attempt travel as train drivers strike over pay

Southeastern has strongly advised rail passengers to not attempt travel today (July 30) due to strike action. The ASLEF trade union, which represents train drivers, announced the walkout earlier this month after it said rail companies failed to make a pay offer to keep pace with the increase in the cost of living.

There will be no Southeastern services throughout the day, while Greater Anglia and Great Western Railway are also among the companies affected. This has resulted in the full closure of the Hastings Line, with routes through Hastings, St Leonards Warrior Square, Battle and Wadhurst disrupted.

There will be no rail replacement buses or taxis available, while the highspeed service to eastern Kent has also been halted.

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Alicia Andrews, Southeastern’s Commercial Director, said ahead of the strike: “If a strike goes ahead we won’t be able to run any trains at all, and so we’d strongly advise our passengers not to attempt to travel by train, and to make another plan if they do need to travel. We apologise for the obvious inconvenience this causes.”

Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express have warned their services will be extremely busy due to the closure of other lines.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said: “We don’t want to go on strike – strikes are the result of a failure of negotiation – and this union, since I was elected GS in 2011, has only ever been on strike, until this year, for a handful of days.

“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers – not least because our friends and families use public transport, too, and we believe in building trust in the railways in Britain – and we don’t want to lose money by going on strike.

“But we’ve been forced into this position by the train companies, driven by the Tory government. The drivers at the companies where we are striking have had a real terms pay cut over the last three years – since April 2019.”

He added: “We want an increase in line with the cost of living – we want to be able to buy, in 2022, what we could buy in 2021 – for those members – who were, you will remember, the people who moved key workers and goods around the country during the pandemic – who have not had a pay rise since 2019.

“It’s not unreasonable to ask your employer to make sure you’re not worse off for a third successive year. Especially as the train companies are doing very nicely, thank you, out of Britain’s railways with handsome profits, dividends for shareholders, and big salaries for managers.”

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