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Train companies have approached the drivers’ union to propose talks to end nearly two years of rail strikes in the UK that have caused the worst disruption to passengers in a generation.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, this week wrote to the Aslef union to propose informal discussions ahead of the next wave of industrial action that is due to begin on Tuesday.
The two sides have not held formal negotiations since Aslef rejected a pay and reform offer last April. Since then passengers have faced regular strikes that have caused sweeping disruption to the rail network.
The Rail Delivery Group told the Financial Times it had written to the Aslef leadership “to try and find areas of common ground that will allow us to move to formal negotiations”.
It added: “We want to see an end to this dispute.”
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan told the FT: “We will be responding to see where it takes us.”
He added: “Hopefully it will get round the table at some point. We are willing to go to the table [and] still want to have that engagement”.
Three transport unions began rail strikes in the summer of 2022 in rows over pay rises and potential changes to working practices as the industry looked to cut costs in response to a fall in passenger numbers during the pandemic.
Aslef is the only union still in dispute. The other main transport unions, the RMT and TSSA, last year agreed pay deals to end their disputes with both train companies and Network Rail, the publicly owned infrastructure manager.
The news of potential talks likely comes too late to avoid the next round of Aslef strikes which begins on Tuesday. Drivers will begin a series of three one-day walkouts in a bid to put pressure on 16 train companies and the government for a significant rise in wages.
The stoppages at English train companies will hit different train operating companies on different days, with passengers warned to check before they travel and no services expected on many lines. Cross-border services into Scotland and Wales will also be disrupted.
Whelan said the waves of industrial action since 2022 amounted to the “longest rail strike in history”. He warned that his members were fully committed to more walkouts if needed.
“Our members don’t think we are going hard and fast enough,” he said.
The union has demanded pay rises to help its members cope with the impact of recent high inflation. In April 2023. Aslef’s leadership rejected an offer of an 8 per cent rise over two years, tied to significant reforms of working practices.
The government, which controls the rail industry’s finances, and train companies, has urged Aslef to reconsider the offer and accept modernisation as part of a pay deal.
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