Rail strike still on after no talks breakthrough

A rail union said strikes planned in the West Midlands were still due to take place after talks produced no breakthrough.

The walkout will affect West Midlands Railway's (WMR) network, including in Warwickshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire, on Friday and Saturday.

The TSSA union said it was "seeking parity with other unions on rest day pay" and there were "modest demands".

WMR previously stated it encouraged the union to continue talks to reach a resolution, and apologised to customers for the inconvenience.

On Monday, TSSA said strikes over rest day working payments would go ahead after discussions involving arbitration service Acas produced no resolution.

Union general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said West Midlands Trains (WMT), the company which owns both WMR and London Northwestern Railway (LNR), was "simply refusing to give our members parity with those in other unions".

"That is an intolerable situation, especially given the fact these are modest demands," she said.

She added it was "up to the company to come to their senses", and that TSSA remained open to further discussions, with strike action a "last resort".

The operation of WMT transferred to public ownership in February.

WMR has said on Friday and Saturday a "very limited service" will operate.

No trains will run after 19:00 BST on Friday, with a later 07:00 start of service on Saturday.

Routes with a limited service on those days are:

• Cross City Line (Lichfield Trent Valley – Redditch / Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street) – two trains per hour
• Wolverhampton – Walsall via Birmingham New Street – one train per hour
• Rugeley Trent Valley – Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street – one train per hour

No trains are due to run on any other WMR route, including via Birmingham Snow Hill, the Camp Hill line, Shrewsbury line, Hereford line and between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa.

LNR also said there would be a "very limited service" on those days.

This includes one train an hour between Birmingham-Liverpool and Birmingham-Northampton-Milton Keynes-London Euston.

No trains will run on any other LNR route, including those via The Potteries (Stafford - Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent).

On Friday, WMR managing director Ian McConnell said it was doing all it could to "minimise the impact as far as possible".

He advised customers to "only travel if necessary and to allow more time".

The union said action involved roster clerks, who would walk out from midnight on Thursday for 24 hours, while duty train crew managers and control staff would strike from noon on Friday to midday on Saturday.

TSSA said it had balloted more than 100 members across these roles.

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