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Rail passengers face rolling strikes but London Underground action called off

Aslef members start three days of 24-hour strikes from Friday but tube driver action cancelled

Rail passengers are bracing for travel disruption as train drivers bring some routes on the national network to a halt in a wave of strikes, but two days of similar action on the London Underground have been called off.

On Friday, members of the union Aslef start the first of three 24-hour strikes that will affect 16 rail operating companies in England as part of its 20-month dispute over pay.

However, on Thursday Aslef called off two daylong tube strikes planned for the following Monday and Saturday 4 May after receiving a proposal from Transport for London that it said resolved the key issues in the dispute.

The run of single-day national network strikes starts on Friday with drivers working for Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, London Northwestern Railway and CrossCountry. All five operators will run no services on the day.

On Saturday, strikes will take place on Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern and TransPennine, while on Monday services on Greater Anglia, GTR’s Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern/Gatwick Express, Southeastern, South Western Railway and SWR Island Line will be cancelled.

Passengers have been warned by operators to expect significant disruption, with most trains cancelled on the strike days. Services on the days before and after the strikes could also be affected. Drivers in Scotland and Wales are not on strike but cross-border rail services will be disrupted.

The strikes coincide with an overtime ban by the union for all operators, which runs from 4 to 6 April, and then 8 to 9 April. It is expected that it will make short-notice cancellations and disruption more likely when travelling on these days.

Announcing the cancellation of the London Underground strikes, an Aslef official said: “Management have confirmed that they have disbanded their ‘trains modernisation’ team and will not be implementing their plans to change drivers’ working arrangements without agreement. They have also agreed to reinstate annual refresher training stopped during the pandemic.”

Train drivers have already held 13 one-day strikes since the dispute started in 2022.

Speaking after the vote last month , Aslef’s general secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “Our members voted overwhelmingly – yet again – for strike action.

“Those votes show – yet again – a clear rejection by train drivers of the ridiculous offer put to us in April last year by [the train operators’ body] the Rail Delivery Group, which knew that offer would be rejected because a land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiated over the years would never be accepted by our members.”

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Aslef has said it would continue to strike for a better pay deal after the union rejected an 8% offer last spring.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “We are sorry that this round of strikes called by the Aslef leadership risks disrupting journeys.

“While we are doing all we can to keep trains running and we will work with our industry partners to keep as many trains running as possible, unfortunately there will be reduced services between Thursday 4 April to Tuesday 9 April. Our advice is to check before you travel and follow the latest travel information.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Aslef is the only rail union continuing to strike … Having resolved disputes with all other rail unions, the transport secretary and rail minister have ensured that a pay offer is on the table – taking train drivers’ average salaries from £60,000 up to £65,000.”

• Rail strikes
• Rail industry
• London Underground
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April train strikes 2024: How will Monday’s train drivers’ walk-out hit passengers?

In three days of ‘rolling’ walk-outs, most of the train operators involved will cancel all services, article bookmarked.

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National rail strikes by train drivers have entered their 22nd month with a series of “rolling” walk-outs, one region at a time, planned for early April.

Members of the Aslef union will halt thousands of trains on 5, 6 and 8 April. The aim is to disrupt services on the 14 rail firms in England that are controlled by the UK government and represented by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). Rolling strikes cause maximum disruption for minimum loss of pay.

In addition, five days of overtime bans will cause further cancellations.

The previous national industrial action by train drivers, comprising an overtime ban and rolling regional walk-outs, hit for nine days from 29 January to 6 February .

Industrial action by Aslef in a dispute over pay and working arrangements began in July 2022. The union is demanding a no-strings pay award, but rail firms – directed by ministers – say any increase is contingent on radical reforms to working practices in order to reduce public subsidies.

During the dispute, hundreds of millions of journeys have been cancelled. Billions of pounds have been lost to the UK economy – particularly hospitality businesses – and taxpayers are pumping cash into an increasingly decrepit and unreliable railway to the tune of £90 per second on top of the normal subsidy.

The quarrel has become increasingly bitter, with no sign of any progress towards a settlement.

Caught in the middle of a seemingly intractable dispute: the passenger. In a snap social media poll for The Independent that garnered 2,142 responses, one in three passengers say they will permanently travel less after the industrial action finally ends.

In addition to the latest walk-outs by rail workers, commuters in the capital were fearing two days of strikes by Aslef members who drive trains for the London Underground . But days before the first planned walk-out, the action was called off .

However, Aslef has called an additional strike and overtime ban at the UK’s flagship train operator, LNER, for later in April.

For passengers, these are the key questions and answers.

Which rail firms are involved?

Aslef is in dispute with the 14 train operators that are contracted by the UK government to provide rail services. They are:

Intercity operators:

Avanti West Coast

CrossCountry

East Midlands Railway

Great Western Railway ( GWR )

TransPennine Express

Southeast England commuter operators:

Greater Anglia

GTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink)

Southeastern

South Western Railway (including the Island Line on the Isle of Wight)

Operators focusing on the Midlands and north of England:

Chiltern Railways

Northern Trains

West Midlands Railway (including London Northwestern Railway)

When are the train drivers walking out?

Drivers belonging to the Aslef union will strike in the following pattern:

Friday 5 April

Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway and CrossCountry. The aim is to cause maximum disruption on key intercity lines as well as Midland commuter services.

To further complicate matters, commuters on the Great Western line have faced rush hour travel disruption after a freight train derailed between Reading and London Paddington , with some services cancelled and the remainder delayed.

Saturday 6 April

Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern and TransPennine Express. This strike is designed to hit rail passengers in the north and west of England, as well as the day’s football programme. In the Premier League, it will hit Newcastle fans travelling to Fulham in London.

Monday 8 April

C2C, Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, South Western Railway. This will hit London particularly hard, with almost all Tube services brought to a halt by the London Underground walkout by Aslef members.

What are the predicted effects at each operator?

The Night Riviera sleeper train and the Gatwick Express will be cancelled throughout the industrial action period.

For other operators, these are the likely service patterns .

The four train operators – Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Railway and CrossCountry – cancelled all services on the day.

“Avanti West Coast services on the days either side of the strike will also be affected,” the West Coast main line operator said.

Chiltern Railways warned people who are thinking of switching to its London-Birmingham service: “Essential travel only, due to strike action on other operators.”

Chiltern, Northern and TransPennine Express have cancelled all services.

LNER is running a skeleton service on core lines between around 7am and 7pm. Its main Edinburgh-Newcastle-York-London line will have at least one train an hour, with some additional trains on the southern part of the network.

GWR will run no long-distance trains, but will connect Reading with Oxford and Basingstoke, as well as a link from Bristol to Cardiff and some branch routes in Devon and Cornwall.

CrossCountry is not on strike but warns its services are expected to be extremely busy, and urges prospective passengers: “Please only travel if essential.”

Sunday 7 April

Although no industrial action is taking place, planned Network Rail engineering projects will hamper many passengers hoping to travel on the Sunday to dodge the strikes.

Avanti West Coast says: “No trains will serve Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Glasgow Central, Haymarket or Edinburgh, and only a limited number of services will serve Lancaster and Oxenholme. All remaining trains will start / terminate at Preston.”

Northern will run rail replacement buses between Halifax and Huddersfield.

The CrossCountry line between Derby and Burton-on-Trent is closed all weekend, with rail replacement buses and train diversions.

Greater Anglia will run to and from London Liverpool Street to Stansted airport, Southend, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich.

Southern will run a shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick airport.

Thameslink will run a shuttle service between London St Pancras and Luton (town and airport stations).

Great Northern will run a shuttle service between London King’s Cross and Cambridge.

South Western Railway will run between London Waterloo, Woking and Guildford, with some other suburban services likely.

Southeastern is urging passengers not to travel, but will run services between London St Pancras and Ashford on the high-speed line; Charing Cross and Orpington; and London Bridge and Dartford.

C2C has cancelled all services.

What about the overtime ban?

Members are also refusing to work their rest days from Thursday 4 to Saturday 6 April and from Monday 8 to Tuesday 9 April. As many rail firms depend on drivers working overtime, hundreds – possibly thousands – of trains will be cancelled.

Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Railway have already said a reduced timetable will run on each day of the strike ban.

GWR says the overtime ban “is likely to cause some short-notice alterations and cancellations, especially at weekends or late at night”.

Which rail firms are not involved?

Some publicly funded train operators will run normally: ScotRail, Transport for Wales, Transport for London (including the Elizabeth line) and Merseyrail.

“Open-access” operators on the East Coast main line – Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo – are unaffected. But many of their services will be crowded on days of industrial action. They duplicate journeys of strike-hit companies, including LNER, TransPennine Express, CrossCountry and Northern.

What is at stake in the dispute?

The train drivers demand a pay rise to reflect high levels of inflation since they last won a pay award; Aslef says some members have not had an increase for five years.

But the government insists that even a modest pay increase is contingent on radical changes to long-standing working arrangements in order to reduce costs – and the huge subsidies the railway is currently receiving from the taxpayer.

Since the pandemic, travel patterns have changed. Ticket revenue is about one-fifth down on pre-Covid levels. As taxpayers will foot the eventual bill for the train drivers’ pay rise, the Treasury as well as the Department for Transport will sign off any deal.

Ministers believe train drivers’ terms and conditions are part of the problem. To keep costs down, they must accept changes to how they work, such as making Sunday part of the working week everywhere.

On 27 April 2023 the Rail Delivery Group offered a pay increase of 4 plus 4 per cent over two years covering the 2022 and 2023 pay awards – subject to a host of changes on terms and conditions, covering a wide range of issues including driver training, Sunday working, sick pay and new technology.

The union say this is completely unacceptable. The train drivers will negotiate on changes, but only after they get a decent no-strings pay offer on top of their current pay.

They believe the money will be found to meet their demands, as it always has been in the past. Aslef has also always “sold” reforms to working arrangements for an extra few per cent on their pay and does intend to change that process.

Meanwhile, the corrosion in confidence among travellers continues, with no rail passenger able to plan journeys more than two weeks ahead – that being the minimum notice the union must give for industrial action.

What does the union say?

The general secretary of Aslef, Mick Whelan, said: “Our members voted overwhelmingly – yet again – for strike action. Those votes show – yet again – a clear rejection by train drivers of the ridiculous offer put to us in April last year by the Rail Delivery Group which knew that offer would be rejected because a land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiated over the years would never be accepted by our members.

“Since then train drivers have voted, time and again, to take action in pursuit of a pay rise. That’s why Mark Harper, the transport secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members. Drivers wouldn’t vote for industrial action, again and again and again, if they thought that was a good offer. They don’t. That offer was dead in the water in April last year – and Mr Harper knows that.

“We asked Mr Harper, or his deputy, the rail minister Huw Merriman, to come and meet us. We asked the RDG and the TOCs to come and talk to us. We said, ‘Let’s sit around the table and negotiate.’ Because you say you don’t want any more industrial action, and we don’t want to disrupt the rail network. But the Tories and the TOCs [train operating companies] have given us no choice.

“We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it is now clear they do not want to resolve this dispute. They are happy for it go on and on. Because we are not going to give up.

“Many members have now not had a single penny increase in pay for half a decade.”

What do the employers and government say?

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Aslef is the only rail union continuing to strike, targeting passengers and preventing their own members from voting on the pay offer that remains on the table.

“Having resolved disputes with all other rail unions, the Transport Secretary and Rail Minister have ensured that a pay offer is on the table – taking train drivers’ average salaries from £60,000 up to £65,000.”

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, representing the train operators, said: “Nobody wins when industrial action impacts people’s lives and livelihoods, and we will work hard to minimise any disruption to our passengers.

“We want to resolve this dispute, but the Aslef leadership need to recognise that hard-pressed taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54 million a week just to keep services running post-Covid.

“We continue to seek an agreement with the Aslef leadership and remain open to talks to find a solution to this dispute.”

What does the Labour Party say?

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “It is a staggering dereliction of duty that the transport secretary hasn’t got around the table with the unions to try to resolve it since the Christmas before last.

“Labour will take an unashamedly different approach to the Tories, and will work with both sides to reach a deal in the interests of passengers and workers. If the transport secretary took this sensible approach then perhaps we wouldn’t still be having strikes on our railways.”

How much has all the disruption cost?

According to the RDG, industrial action from June 2022 up until mid-January 2024 cost the rail sector around £775m in lost revenue. That does not include the impact of the most recent strikes and overtime bans, which probably add a further £100m to the losses.

UKHospitality estimates the lost business for places to eat, drink and stay amounts to almost £5 billion. Kate Nicholls, the organisation’s chief executive, says: “Ongoing strike action hurts businesses, prevents people from getting to work and significantly erodes confidence in the rail network.”

In addition, there is an unknowable loss of revenue from passengers who have adjusted their lifestyles or found alternative forms of transport; businesses that have stopped making trips and are using online communication instead; and people trimming back on travel because of the lack of certainty.

What about the new minimum service levels law?

Legislation now allows the transport secretary to stipulate minimum service levels (MSLs) on strike days amounting to 40 per cent of the normal service. The government says the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 aims “to ensure that the public can continue to access services that they rely on, during strike action”.

No train operator is seeking to impose the new law on the train drivers’ union. LNER said it might do so earlier this year, and opened consultations. Aslef immediately called a separate five-day strike on LNER alone. Then the train operator said it would not require drivers to work, and the strike was called off.

The Transport Select Committee has previously warned of potential unintended consequences of the legislation. The Conservative chair, Iain Stewart, said: “There is a risk of MSLs worsening worker-employer relations and that, as a result, MSLs could end up making services less reliable.”

The minimum service level rules do not apply to union bans on non-contractual rest-day working – so there would be no benefit in imposing the law when an overtime ban is in force.

What is the LNER-specific dispute about?

On Friday 19 and Sunday 21 April, Aslef members working for Aslef will refuse overtime. On Saturday 20 April, they will strike. The union has accused the rail firm of acting in bad faith. Nigel Roebuck, full-time organiser in the northeast of England, accused ministers of “leaning on the company to persuade every driver manager and driver instructor to work on strike days; effectively to provide a minimum service level without invoking the legislation”.

The Department for Transport for a response.

An LNER spokesperson said: “Our priority focus remains on minimising disruption to customers. We continue to encourage Aslef to work with us to find a way to end this long running dispute.”

Some cancellations are likely on 19 April, and many more on 20 and 21 April.

Anything else on the strike agenda?

Members of the main rail union, the RMT, who work for CrossCountry are striking on Saturday 13 April in a dispute over recognition.

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Train strikes: Full list of how each operator will be affected by the latest rail strikes

• train strikes
• Industrial action
• Friday 3 February 2023 at 7:32am

Britain’s train services will be hit by strike action for the second day this week.

Train driver members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union ( RMT ) walked out on Wednesday - and will do so again on Friday - in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Here is a full breakdown of each train operator’s plan for strike days and how it could affect your journey:

– Avanti West Coast

No trains will operate.

Services will be unaffected.

– Caledonian Sleeper

– Chiltern Railways

– CrossCountry

– East Midlands Railway

– Elizabeth line

– Gatwick Express

– Grand Central

– Great Northern

– Great Western Railway

An extremely limited service will operate, and only between 7.30am and 7.30pm.

The only routes served by trains will be: Between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads; between Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff; between Reading and Basingstoke, Oxford and Redhill; between Swindon and Westbury; between Exeter St Davids and Exmouth and Paignton; between Plymouth and Gunnislake; and between Penzance and St Ives.

– Greater Anglia

A very limited service will operate with one train per hour in each direction between London Liverpool Street and each of Norwich, Colchester, Cambridge and Southend Victoria.

Services will start from 8am and finish earlier than usual.

No other routes will be served by trains.

– Heathrow Express

– Hull Trains

– London North Eastern Railway

An extremely limited timetable will operate.

It will run just five trains in each direction between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh, with a handful of other services.

– London Northwestern Railway

– London Overground

– Merseyrail

– South Western Railway

No trains will operate on the Isle of Wight. South Western Railway intended to run a full service on the mainland but said it was “reviewing our plans” after suffering disruption during a similar walkout on Wednesday when drivers not part of the strike refused to cross picket lines.

– Southeastern

– Stansted Express

One train per hour will run in each direction between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.

– Thameslink

– TransPennine Express

– Transport for Wales

– West Midlands Railway

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Industrial action

The information on this page is correct as of 2 April and is always subject to change so please check back before you travel.

The ASLEF union has announced that strike action by their members will take place on 8 April , affecting Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink & Great Northern.

There will also be a withdrawal from non-contractual overtime from 4 to 6 April (inclusive) and on 9 April .

You must check your journey each day before travelling, as timetables will differ throughout this period of industrial action. Journey planners are now up-to-date.

We expect trains to be busier than usual throughout this period, especially during peak hours. It’s likely you will need to queue, and you may not be able to board your chosen service. You should allow extra time for your journey. 

On Thursday 4, Friday 5, Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 April, we will not operate the usual non-stop Gatwick Express service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton. To help customers we have added extra stops at Clapham Junction and East Croydon, and as such these trains will be operating as Southern services. Gatwick Express tickets are valid on Southern and Thameslink at no additional cost.

Additionally, a landslip has been discovered between Edenbridge and Tonbridge, which has closed all lines in that area. Train services are currently unable to run between Redhill and Tonbridge, and rail replacement buses are operating. Buses will run on all days during this period of industrial action, except for Monday 8 April. A train shuttle will also operate between Reigate and Redhill throughout this period, except for Monday 8 April. More information on this incident, and details of replacement bus locations, can be found here .

Engineering works may also be taking place on parts of our network. For further details,  please visit our engineering work page . 

Other train companies may also be affected by industrial action and engineering works, so check individual operator websites for further details.

Service summary for Thursday 4 and Friday 5 April

An amended timetable with fewer services will be operating.

Please see below for a summary of the services we plan to run on these days:

Services to / from London Victoria:   

• Brighton – two trains per hour 
• Eastbourne / Ore – one train per hour
• Portsmouth / Bognor Regis via Horsham – one train per hour
• Littlehampton via Preston Park – one train per hour
• East Grinstead – one train per hour (two trains per hour in peak)
• Dorking – one train per hour 
• Horsham via Dorking – one train per hour
• West Croydon via Crystal Palace – two trains per hour (peak only) 
• Epsom Downs via Selhurst – two trains per hour 
• London Bridge – two trains per hour 

Services to / from London Bridge:  

• Uckfield – one service in the morning peak, one in the evening peak
• Caterham – one train per hour
• Tattenham Corner – one train per hour
• East Croydon via Tulse Hill & Selhurst – two trains per hour
• Beckenham Junction via Tulse Hill – two trains per hour (peak only)

East Coastway   

• Brighton and Eastbourne – one train per hour 
• Brighton and Seaford – two trains per hour
• Eastbourne and Ashford International – one train per hour 

West Coastway  

• Brighton and Littlehampton – one train per hour
• Brighton and Southampton Central – one train per hour
• Littlehampton and Portsmouth & Southsea – one train per hour
• Littlehampton and Bognor Regis – one train per hour
• Bognor Regis and Barnham – one train per hour

Purley and Tattenham Corner – one train per hour (peak only) 

Purley and Caterham – one train per hour (peak only) 

Oxted and Uckfield – one train per hour 

Redhill and Tonbridge – Rail replacement buses due to a landslip in the area  

Clapham Junction and Watford Junction – one train per hour 

Thameslink   

• Peterborough and Horsham via Redhill – one train per hour
• Cambridge and Three Bridges via Redhill – one train per hour 
• Bedford and Brighton – two trains per hour 
• London Blackfriars and Sutton via Wimbledon – two trains per hour
• St Albans City and Sutton via Mitcham Eastfields – two trains per hour 
• Luton and Rainham – one train per hour
• London Blackfriars and Sevenoaks – two trains per hour

Great Northern   

• London King’s Cross and King’s Lynn – one train per hour, rising to two trains per hour during peak 
• London King’s Cross and Peterborough – one train per hour (peak only)
• London King’s Cross and Cambridge – one train per hour 
• Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City – two trains per hour 
• Moorgate and Stevenage via Hertford North – two trains per hour

Service summary for Saturday 6 April

We are planning to operate our usual Saturday service on Southern and Gatwick Express, however, engineering works will still be taking place across the network, so you should check before travelling, as your journey may still be affected.  

Details of our planned engineering works can be found here.

An amended timetable with fewer services will operate on Thameslink and Great Northern. Please see below for a summary of these services:

Thameslink   

• Peterborough and Horsham via Redhill – one train per hour  
• Royston and Three Bridges via Redhill – one train per hour   
• Bedford and Brighton – two trains per hour   
• London Blackfriars and Sutton via Wimbledon – two trains per hour  
• St Albans City and Sutton via Mitcham Eastfields – two trains per hour   
• Luton and Rainham – one train per hour  
• London Blackfriars and Sevenoaks – one train per hour  

Great Northern   

• Cambridge and King’s Lynn – one train per hour 
• London King’s Cross and Royston – one train per hour   
• Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City – one train per hour   
• Moorgate and Stevenage via Hertford North – two trains per hour  

Service summary for Sunday 7 April

We are planning to operate our usual Sunday service on Southern and Gatwick Express, however, engineering works will still be taking place across the network, so you should check before travelling, as your journey may still be affected. 

An amended timetable with fewer services will operate on Thameslink and Great Northern. Please see below for a summary of these services: 

• Peterborough and London King’s Cross – one train per hour   
• Royston and Brighton – one train per hour    
• Bedford and Brighton – two trains per hour  
• London Bridge and Horsham – one train per hour   
• London Blackfriars and Sutton via Wimbledon – two trains per hour   
• St Albans City and Sutton via Mitcham Eastfields – two trains per hour (after 1:00pm)   
• Luton and Sutton via Wimbledon – two trains per hour 
• Kentish Town and Gravesend – one train per hour   
• London Blackfriars and Sevenoaks – two trains per hour   

Great Northern

• London King’s Cross and Royston – one train per hour    
• Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City – one train per hour    
• Moorgate and Stevenage via Hertford North – two trains per hour   

Service summary for Monday 8 April    

Very limited shuttle services will be in operation on this day, as listed below. No other Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink or Great Northern services will be running.  

• Southern shuttle service calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only (operating between approximately 05:00 and 23:00)
• Thameslink shuttle service calling at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway and Luton only (operating between approximately 07:00 and 19:00)
• Thameslink shuttle service calling at London Kings Cross and Cambridge only (operating between approximately 07:00 and 19:00)

Please check journey planners, especially when planning to travel on first or last trains, as the departure times and frequencies of these shuttle services will vary throughout the day.

These services are expected to be extremely busy. Queueing systems will be in place, and you may not be able to board your chosen service. If you are planning to travel on one of the last trains of the day, please be aware that, depending on the size of the queue, you may not be able to board a service at all, and no alternative transport options will be provided after the last train departs. Please plan ahead and leave plenty of time to reach your destination. 

Service summary for Tuesday 9 April

An amended timetable with fewer services will be operating. Services will start later than normal due to strike action taking place the previous day.

Please see below for a summary of the services we plan to run on this day: 

• Uckfield – one service in the evening peak only
• London King’s Cross and King’s Lynn – one train per hour, rising to two trains per hour during peak

Journey planner updates

The list below will show the dates affected by Industrial Action followed by (in brackets) the date that journey planners will be up-to-date. Please ensure you check every journey, every day, at National Rail Enquiries  before you travel.

• Thursday 4 April (Live now)
• Friday 5 April (Live now)
• Saturday 6 April (Live now)
• Sunday 7 April (Live now)
• Monday 8 April (Live now)
• Tuesday 9 April (Live now)

Cancellation of strike action

If strike action is cancelled or suspended at short notice, we will not be able to immediately restore our normal timetable.

Rail services are created and depend on complex and integrated systems. It therefore takes some time to get everything back into place. If this is the case, more details will be published here.

• ASLEF strike days from Friday 5 April until Monday 8 April (inclusive), with Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern & Gatwick Express services affected by strike action on Monday 8 April
• ASLEF overtime ban from Thursday 4 April until Saturday 6 April (inclusive) and Tuesday 9 April

Click to expand each section

Currently, there are:

If you had an Advance ticket, you can get a full fee-free refund if the train you intended to use was cancelled or delayed, or you chose not to travel on a strike day.

If you had an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket you can get a full fee-free refund if the train you intended to use was cancelled or delayed.

If you didn’t buy your ticket from us, you will need to go back to the retailer you originally bought your ticket from.

If you chose not to travel on a strike day and you have a flexi season ticket or a monthly or longer duration season ticket, you can use our  Delay Repay scheme  to claim the value of one day's travel.

It's not available for the day after the strike days.

If you bought your ticket on or before 20 March, the following applies:

Instead of you having to apply for a refund, there are some alternative travel date options for you.

If you have a ticket for Friday 5 April – Monday 8 April, you can also use it between Thursday 4 April and up to and including Wednesday 10 April.

Please note for all the above dates:

• If your ticket is for a through fare that includes the London Underground, it will not be valid on London Underground services on an alternative date
• If you’re travelling on a different day and have an Advance Ticket, where possible, please try to travel on the same time as your original booked train
• If you have a seat reservation and choose to travel on a different day, you will not be able to use your original reservation, so please visit one of our Ticket Offices and we can try to reserve you a seat on the new travel date
• If you travel and your train is delayed, you will be entitled to Delay Repay, as usual. Note that delays will be calculated against the strike day timetable
• Booked Passenger Assist? If you need to change your booking to another day or time, please contact our  Assisted Travel team

If you bought your ticket on or after 21 March, the following applies:

The normal rules for  changing a ticket  will apply.

• You can apply for a  refund  of your current ticket and purchase a new ticket for your intended date of travel. Please note we expect all services during this period to be extremely busy
• You can also change the time and / or date of travel at any of our Ticket Offices, this may be subject to a £10 change of journey fee (and any difference between the price you’ve already paid and the price of the best available ticket for your new travel date)
• The normal rules for  changing a ticket  will apply

For further details on refund terms and conditions for each ticket type please refer to our refund FAQs below.

Booked Passenger Assist? If you need to change your booking to another day or time, please contact our  Assisted Travel team .

If you have a ticket and your train/trains are still running you don't need to do anything further. If you have yet to buy your ticket, then you may wish to consider only buying your Anytime, Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets once you know the train you plan to take is running, as the cost of the ticket will not change and fees to refund may still apply.

If you travel and your train is delayed, you will be entitled to  Delay Repay  as usual. Note that delays will be calculated against the strike day timetable.

If you have an impacted assistance booking which starts on one of our services, we'll get in touch with you to make new arrangements. In the meantime, if you have any concerns then please contact our  Assisted Travel team .

• Thursday 4 April – Tuesday 9 April (inclusive): If you have a ‘Southern Only’ ticket, you may use it on Thameslink services. If you have a ‘Thameslink Only’ ticket, you may use it on Southern services
• There is no other ticket acceptance with other train operators

On the ASLEF strike day Monday 8 April, we expect our trains that are running to be extremely busy, so First Class areas will be declassified all day for customer safety and comfort on the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern services on those days. If you have a First Class ticket you can  apply for compensation here .

If your journey involves another operator, please check with them whether there will be First Class accommodation on their services.

We expect that the trains will be very crowded on strike days. To maximise the space available for all customers, our  cycle policy  will remain in place and we would encourage you not to travel with your bike. Some of our stations have  Cycle Hubs, click here for more information .

Advance tickets are no longer available to buy for the ASLEF strike days on our services on Monday 8 April. If your journey involves another operator, please check with them.

The latest information on the availability of Advance fares can be found on this  National Rail Enquiries website .

Please note – During the period of industrial action between Thursday 4 April and Tuesday 9 April (inclusive), we will be running a reduced service each day. Click to expand each section.

On strike days we expect stations and services to be very busy, as we will be unable to run our normal timetable. At all stations served by trains on strike days our station and onboard staff will be able to provide you with the assistance you need. If the train is too busy, we’ll work with you to find the best solution for you. If you’re unable to board the train, we may arrange alternative transport for you.

Onboard our trains our disabled customers have priority in the accessible carriages. We also have  priority seats  available for those that need them.

On strike days you can  Book assistance  for your journey for planned services, but please note that train services are expected to be extremely busy.

If you have any queries or concerns, then please contact our  Assisted Travel  team.

Upon arrival at the station please make yourself known to a member of staff.

On strike days 'Turn up and go’ assistance will continue to be supported on our services, in line with the strike day timetable in place.

Upon arrival at the station please make yourself known to a member of staff, or contact us via a Help Point by using the Emergency button.

Please check before you travel as close as possible to your intended departure time on  National Rail Enquiries , as your whole journey may include travel with other operators who are impacted by a strike.

If you have  booked assistance  through us and your journey is affected by any strike days, then, once strike day timetables are confirmed, we'll attempt to contact you to discuss your options. If you have any concerns, then please contact our  Assisted Travel  team. We strongly recommend you check before you travel as close as possible to your intended departure time on National Rail Enquiries .

On strike days, alternative accessible transport may be arranged, as per our  Accessible Travel Policy , from stations which are unstaffed, or inaccessible due to a physical feature (such as steps to platforms) that have services stopping at them under our amended strike day timetables.

However, due to the high demand expected, it may take us longer to book suitable alternative transport than usual. If you have any concerns, please contact our  Assisted Travel team .

Compensation

For monthly and longer season ticket holders.

If you are unable to travel or choose not to travel on a strike day, you can claim compensation through our  Delay Repay scheme  by claiming a delay of 120+ minutes which will provide you with the value of one day’s travel.

This only applies to monthly and longer season ticket holders and not for weekly season tickets.

On this occasion, you do not need to have travelled or have been delayed to claim compensation.

You need to apply for compensation online within 28 days of the strike date.

For Flexi Season Ticket holders

In order to claim compensation, you must activate a Day Pass on the strike day (not on the days before or after). Once you’ve activated your Day Pass you can claim compensation through our  Delay Repay scheme  by claiming a delay of 120+ minutes which will provide you with the value of one day’s travel.

If you travelled and your train was delayed, you will be entitled to  Delay Repay  as usual. Note that delays will be calculated against the published timetable of the day. Please do not claim Delay Repay compensation if the train you'd normally take was not listed in the revised timetable - compensation is only payable against an actual delay of fifteen minutes or more against the train service that ran. Please ensure you submit your application within 28 days of your travel date.

If your ticket was for a strike day and the alternative dates did not work for you then you can apply for a refund, although this may be subject to a £10 admin fee.

If you purchased your ticket (excluding season tickets) and you decided not to travel or you began your journey but decided not to complete it because the service/s you originally intended to travel on were cancelled or delayed or rescheduled, or your reservation was not honoured, you can get a full fee-free refund.

If you have a ticket on departure booking and you have not collected your ticket, please apply for a refund via the online refund form .

The following information is based on the different ticket types in place, if you hold a paper ticket and you’re not sure what type of ticket you have, please check the information printed on the orange stripe in the top left corner of the ticket for one of the following.

If you bought your ticket from us, then we can arrange a refund for you. If you bought your ticket from someone else, then you’ll need to go back to the original retailer of your ticket to arrange a refund.

If you have an Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket you can get a full fee-free refund if the train you intend to use is cancelled or delayed as per Condition 30 of the National Rail Condition of Travel.

If the reason you would like a refund is not covered by Condition 30 of the National Rail Condition of Travel , then you can apply for a  refund  on your ticket but this will be subject to a £10 admin charge.

You can obtain a refund via our  online refund form  (for all ticket types) or visiting one of our ticket offices (for paper or smartcard refunds).

If you bought your ticket from another retailer or train company, you will need to contact them to request your refund.

Additional points for single tickets

If you have a return journey formed of 2 single tickets and do not/cannot make your outward journey because of the Industrial Action, you are entitled to a refund on your journey, even if the second single ticket (used for your return journey) is not affected. The same will be true if the return journey is planned for a day affected by the industrial action, but the outward journey is not.

Additional points for return tickets

If you have an unused return ticket (not used the outward or return), you can get a full refund of your ticket without paying an admin fee. You can then purchase a new ticket for the journey you make.

You can also get a refund of half the value of your return ticket in the following scenarios:

• If you have an open return ticket and don’t use the outward portion (as it falls on a strike day), but have used the return portion
• If you have an open return ticket and don’t use the return portion (as it falls on a strike day), but have used the outward portion

If you have an Advance ticket for a train that is scheduled for a strike day and you purchased your ticket from us you can get a full fee-free refund or change of journey as per Condition 30 of the National Rail Condition of Travel.

If you have a return journey formed of 2 advance single tickets and do not/cannot make your outward journey, you are entitled to a refund on your journey, even if the second single ticket (used for your return journey) is not affected. The same will be true if the return journey is planned for a day affected by the industrial action, but the outward journey is not.

You can obtain a refund via our online refund form  (for all ticket types) or by visiting one of our ticket offices (for paper or smartcard refunds).

Unexpired Season tickets and Flexi Season tickets can be refunded at any time prior to the expiry of the ticket.

We will calculate how much is refunded based on the value left on your ticket on the day you submit your Season ticket less a £10 admin fee for refund.

You can find out how much refund you are due by using this calculator: Season ticket refund calculator .

Please see our refunds process for tickets here, for full details .

For more information see the  Season Ticket Conditions page .

Please do not date your carnet ticket until you know for certain that you are going to travel, as it is not possible to amend the date of travel with these tickets once dated.

We can only refund your Carnet tickets, subject to a £10 admin fee if they are:

• Within 28 days from the expiry date of the tickets
• A complete unused book of tickets

If you will not be using your car park season ticket for some time, you can request a refund by following the normal refund process through APCOA:

How do I get a refund?

If you bought your ticket from us, we can process your refund.

For paper, eTickets, and smartcards, please use our online refund form .

Alternatively, for paper tickets and smartcards you can also visit one of our Ticket Offices for assistance.

FAQ – Previous strike days

If you have been directly impacted by a strike day within the last 28 days, the above FAQs regarding compensation will still apply.

If you didn’t travel on a strike day (or the alternative dates your ticket was valid for), the above FAQs regarding refunds will still apply.

If you bought your ticket from us, then we can arrange a refund for you. If you bought your ticket from someone else, then you’ll need to go back to the original retailer.

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Rail strikes: Your refund rights explained if your travel is disrupted due to industrial action

A fresh wave of strike dates looks set to play havoc with people's Christmas plans - here's what you need to know if your travel is affected and what you're entitled to when it comes to refunds and delay repay.

Tuesday 13 December 2022 04:17, UK

Rail workers are preparing for several strikes over the festive period as union bosses continue the row over pay and conditions, with travellers' Christmas plans in disarray as a result.

Nationwide rail strikes are due to take place on 13-14 December, 16-17 December, from 6pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on 27 December, 3-4 January and 6-7 January.

An overtime ban from 18 December until 2 January by RMT members will also affect many train services.

Passengers who have advance tickets booked could be entitled to a refund - here's what you need to know about claiming.

Can I get a refund if my train is cancelled or delayed due to strikes?

If you have an advance ticket booked for a strike day and your service is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, you are entitled to a change or refund. You'll need to contact the original retailer of your ticket to get your money back.

My train has been rescheduled but I don't want to travel at that time - can I get a refund?

More on Rail Strikes

Train strikes in April and May 2024: Full list of dates and lines affected

Train drivers at five companies vote to continue strike action for another six months - ASLEF

Rail strikes: LNER train drivers to walk out for five extra days in February

Related Topics:

• Rail strikes

Yes, you can get a refund if your train has been rescheduled due to strike action. Again, you'll need to do that through your original retailer.

When will I know if my journey is affected?

The National Rail Journey Planner is not yet showing timetables for strike day services.

For travel from 12 to 16 December, the Journey Planner will be correct on 10 December. For journeys on 17 and 18 December, it will be updated on 14 December.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Read more: Strikes every day before Christmas - where and why? PM to hold cabinet crisis talks after rail union adds more Christmas strikes

National Rail has not yet confirmed when the Journey Planner will be updated to reflect planned strikes over the Christmas period and in January, with travellers advised to check their website closer to the time.

Can I use my ticket to travel on a different day?

If you have an advance ticket for a strike day, you may be able to travel on the days around the strikes. The details of this are yet to be announced, so check back with your train company closer to the time.

I have a season ticket - can I get a refund?

Season ticket holders are entitled to compensation through the Delay Repay scheme for days where they are not able to travel due to strike action.

Why are workers striking?

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union represents Network Rail workers, who operate railway infrastructure such as signals, and workers at 14 of the UK's 28 train companies.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said his members are striking in response to the government cutting jobs and refusing to increase pay in line with inflation.

Mr Lynch said the government plans to "attack" terms, conditions and working practices by using "fire and re-hire" and cut real-terms pay for most members through lengthy pay freezes and below RPI inflation pay rises.

The RMT wants a pay rise, which it has not put a figure on, and reassurance jobs will not be cut, as well as working practices and conditions protected.

Related Topics

When are train strikes this week? When the next rail and Tube strikes are and list of October 2023 dates

The action, organised by the aslef union, is expected to shut down the majority of the country's rail network.

Train drivers are striking again this week in their long-running dispute with rail companies over pay.

The action, organised by the Aslef union , is expected to shut down the majority of the country’s rail network.

More than two in five train services in Britain were delayed or cancelled during the first half of the year, recent figures have shown, with industrial action being a significant factor.

When are train drivers striking?

Aslef members working at 16 rail companies will strike on Wednesday 4 October , having already walked out on Saturday.

The union is also implementing a ban on working overtime from Monday 2 to Friday 6 October .

You can click the links below to see how each operator will be affected by the action:

• Avanti West Coast
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Gatwick Express
• Great Northern
• Great Western Railway
• Greater Anglia  (including Stansted Express)
• Heathrow Express
• London Northwestern Railway
• South Western Railway  (including Island Line)
• Southeastern
• TransPennine Express
• West Midlands Railway

Aslef said the action would “force the train operating companies to cancel all services and the ban on overtime will seriously disrupt the network”.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the train companies, said operators will run as many trains as possible, but that there would be wide regional variations, with some running no services at all.

National Rail said: “On the days where full strike action is taking place, this is likely to result in little or no services across large areas of the network. Services are also likely to be disrupted and start later on the day immediately following a full strike day. Passengers are warned to expect significant disruption and advised to plan ahead and check before you travel.”

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries journey planner for live updates.

Why are train drivers striking?

Talks between Aslef and the RDG have stalled since the union rejected the RDG’s most recent proposal.

It had put forward an offer of two straight 4 per cent pay increases that also came with a number of changes to working practices.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “While we regret having to take this action – we don’t want to lose a day’s pay or disrupt passengers, as they try to travel by train – the Government and the employers have forced us into this position.

Fresh wave of train strikes bring weekend travel chaos to England

“Our members have not, now, had a pay rise for four years – since 2019 – and that’s not right when prices have soared in that time. Train drivers, perfectly reasonably, want to be able to buy now what they could buy four years ago.”

The RDG said: “The rail industry is working hard to keep trains running despite the union leaders’ decision to reject an offer which would give their members an 8 per cent pay rise over two years, taking average salaries for train drivers up from nearly £60,000 a year to almost £65,000 a year for, on average, a four-day week.”

“At a time when the industry is losing £10m a day post-Covid, its leadership must recognise the need to make changes to how the industry is run, to both fund any rise and, crucially, so we can give our passengers more reliable train services, particularly on Sundays.”

It said the offer “remains on the table”, adding that the RDG is “always open to constructive dialogue”.

The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper , said train drivers were taking part in a “political strike” aimed at disrupting the Conservative Party conference, which is taking place between Sunday 1 October and Wednesday 4 October.

He told Sky News on Friday: “The strike this weekend, people can see that it is timed to coincide with the Conservative Party conference, so it is very much a political strike called by the general secretary of Aslef, who sits on the Labour Party’s national executive committee.”

He said: “An average salary of a train driver today is £60,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week. The pay offer that is on the table, if it was accepted, would take that to a £65,000 a year salary for a four-day, 35-hour week – I think most people would think that is quite reasonable.”

Mr Harper called on the union to “put the offer to your members and see whether they accept it or not”.

Mr Whelan said: “We’ve targeted the Tory party conference, the start date and the finish date of it, not for political reasons but for industrial reasons.”

He added: “Those who have, falsely, accused us of targeting events in the past, to hide their own shortcomings, and bad faith, have inspired us to take action on these days.”

When are the Tube strikes?

London Underground workers will strike on Wednesday 4 and Friday 6 October .

The walkout involves more than 3,500 station staff working on the Tube. The RMT union, which is involved in a dispute over station staff cuts and working conditions, has warned the action will “shut down” the network.

Transport for London said: “If the strikes go ahead, there will be severe disruption across the whole Tube network.

“There will be no Night Tube on Friday 6 October. All services, including buses, will be much busier than usual.”

Services are also likely to be disrupted the morning after strike action.

The Elizabeth Line, London Overground, DLR and tram services are not on strike, however they may experience last-minute changes, including trains not stopping at stations shared with London Underground.

You can use the TfL journey planner to check for live updates on strike days.

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Industrial Action

ASLEF industrial action will affect South Western Railway services in April, on the following dates:

• Thursday 4 and Friday 5 April – overtime ban, revised service
• Saturday 6 April – overtime ban, revised service
• Monday 8 April –strike action, significantly reduced service
• Tuesday 9 April – overtime ban, revised service

Strike action will  impact  train operators on different days during the industrial action period from Thursday 4 to Tuesday 9 April , so please check your whole journey before travelling on any of these days. 

For more information on ticketing and refunds, please visit our page  here .

Answers to  frequently  asked questions about strike action can be found  here . 

Thursday 4, Friday 5 and Tuesday 9 April

• Please check your entire journey before you travel  
• Journey planners are now up to date
• Other operators will also be affected

Saturday 6 April

On Saturday 6 April, a revised timetable will operate across our network due to engineering work and a ban on overtime working. Travel advice: 

• Customers travelling between London Waterloo and Exeter are advised that the quickest route is travelling by train via Southampton Central; the alternative route via rail replacement buses through the Andover area will take longer

Sunday 7 April 

Monday 8 april .

• Please only travel if your journey is absolutely necessary 
• If you must travel, please check your entire journey before you set off
• Other operators will also be affected on this date
• If possible, please avoid the first and last services of the day, as these are expected to be extremely busy

*The penultimate service to Woking will extend to Guildford. 

Wednesday 10 April 

Services will run as per the normal timetable.  We recommend that you check before travelling.

Need help travelling with SWR? 

Claim compensation for your delay - quickly and easily

Engineering works will affect your journey

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December train strikes: Dates and services affected

C ommuters face another wave of strikes and rail disruption as train drivers prepare to go on strike again in the run-up to Christmas.

The disruption is the latest blow to travellers who have been hit with 18 months of disruption since unions began their pay dispute with the Government and train operating companies.

Here is everything you need to know about the next wave of industrial action:

When are the train strikes and which rail companies are affected?

Unlike previous strikes, different operators will walk out on different days across the country during the next wave of action.

The walkouts will be held on the following dates:

December 2 – EMR and LNER 

December 3 – Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Great Northern Thameslink and WMT 

December 5 – C2C and Greater Anglia 

December 6 – Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, the SWR main line and depot, and on the Island Line 

December 7 – CrossCountry and GWR 

December 8 – Northern and TPT

December 1-9 – All Aslef members will refuse to work overtime from Friday, December 1 to Saturday, December 9.

I thought train strikes had been sorted. Why are there more?

Aslef has held 14 one-day strikes during the 18-month dispute, causing huge disruption to services across the country.

Strikes have also been held since June 2022 by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union. However, they are now voting on a deal aimed at resolving their dispute.

The deal will see the union suspend industrial action until at least April in exchange for a backdated pay offer which could see all members receive a lump sum of at least £1,750 before the Christmas break.

Advice for travelling during train strikes

National Rail has yet to give an update on the latest strikes but has previously warned passengers to expect “significant disruption” on strike days.

National Rail has recommended that passengers:

• Use its Journey Planner. Passengers should check close to the time of each strike date
• Use its Live Trains page for the most up-to-date information about arrivals and departures
• Plan ahead and check before you travel. This includes checking your entire journey, especially if you’re travelling on the first and last trains of strike days

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Train strike refunds: you could claim hundreds of pounds even if you didn’t try to travel

Why are Aslef striking?

The Aslef union said the new walkouts will “ratchet up the pressure” on train companies and the Government to give train drivers their first pay rise in more than four years.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We are determined to win this dispute and get a significant pay rise for train drivers who have not had an increase since 2019, while the cost of living, in that time, has soared.

“The Transport Secretary, who has gone missing in action during this dispute, says we should put the offer to our members.

“What the minister apparently fails to understand is that, since the Rail Delivery Group’s (RDG) risible offer in April, we have received overwhelming mandates, on enormous turnouts, for more industrial action.

“Our members have spoken and we know what they think. Every time they vote – and they have voted overwhelmingly – for strike action in pursuit of a proper pay rise it is a clear rejection of the offer that was made in April.

“The RDG’s offer – a land grab for all our terms and conditions – was made in the full knowledge that it couldn’t, and wouldn’t, be accepted.”

Aslef said it had successfully struck pay deals with 14 companies in the last 12 months, including freight firms, open-access operators, Eurostar, and passenger companies in Scotland and Wales where transport issues are devolved.

It added: “This is a dispute in England made at Westminster by the Tory Government.

“We gave the train operating companies (TOCs) a way out of this dispute which they chose not to accept because the Government interfered.

“We suggested a significant across-the-board increase for all drivers, at all the companies involved, to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

“Other matters, we said, could then be dealt with company by company because terms and conditions are different at each company.

“Uncoupling the carriages, as it were, would have given the TOCs and the Government a way out, and given us an opportunity to deal, at company council level, with any changes and productivity they want.

“Some TOCs have Sundays in the working week, some don’t. One size does not, cannot and will not, fit all.

“We will continue to take industrial action until the train companies – and/or the Government – sits down and negotiates with us in good faith.”

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Airport firefighters set to strike nationally, threatening school holiday travel plans

Aviation firefighters at major Australian airports are set to strike on April 15 amid claims from their union that a shortage of aviation fire and rescue firefighters is putting air passengers at risk.

United Firefighters Union Australia (UFUA) says it has leaked documents from employer Airservices Australia showing an "extreme risk" at 13 airports, and "high risk" at 14 others.

The planned work stoppage is due to affect 27 airports around the country and run for 4 hours from 6am.

The action threatens to disrupt school holiday travel plans as students in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory begin their two-week term break and those in other states return to begin term two.

UFUA has claimed that government-owned air navigation regulator Airservices Australia has failed to address resourcing issues, but the regulator has hit back, saying staffing levels are adequate.

The union's aviation branch secretary, Wes Garrett, told ABC radio the "primary concern" of every aviation firefighter was the "safety of air travellers that they have sworn to protect and the safety of their fellow crew members".

"These leaked documents confirm that Australia's air travellers face a dire risk every time they set foot on an aircraft in Australia, should an incident occur," Mr Garrett said.

"At 13 major airports across Australia, including Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, the leaked documents confirm that air travellers face extreme risk."

He said air travellers at 14 remaining airports across Australia, including Sydney, Canberra, and Hobart were at "high risk".

Mr Garrett added that the task resource analysis (TRA) of the service showed current staffing numbers were "well below what they ought to be".

"What we say is that the outcomes and risk identified in those processes needs to be reflected in our enterprise agreement," he said.

He said the TRA was an internationally recognised methodology for determining the amount of firefighters, trucks and resources required to protect passengers in the event of a worst-case scenario at an Australian airport.

"Disgracefully, Airservices have known about the dire risk to air travellers should an incident occur since 2022 and have refused to release the documents to the Union or the public," he said.

Mr Garrett said the staffing concerns topped the list of 26 items on a log of claims that were sought to be resolved in the current enterprise bargaining negotiations, which began last October.

"We don't seem to be making any progress whatsoever," he said.

"These resource shortages include a lack of key personnel to operate breathing apparatus, shortages of firefighting agents to suppress multiple incidents, insufficient personnel and vehicles to protect both sides of a crashed aircraft, a lack of personnel for effective fire ground command and control, and a lack of procedural control at Australia's airports."

The union is seeking a 20 per cent pay increase over three years, while Airservices Australia has offered 11.2 per cent over three years.

Mr Garrett said the timing of the strike action had "coincidentally" fallen during school holidays for some states.

"I don't think there is any convenient time for a work stoppage when it comes to aviation and I think that should really actually inspire Airservices to get in and settle the deal as soon as possible so that there aren't any stoppages and there's no inconvenience to the public."

Airservices Australia said the union's action was motivated by its bid for a pay rise as part of the ongoing employment agreement negotiations.

In a statement, Airservices Australia said the dispute had "nothing to do with staffing levels" which were sufficient to meet operational requirements.

It added that the TRAs "do not measure current state operational risk".

"The risk assessments included in the TRA process are based on theoretical scenarios that do not account for the likelihood of an event occurring or reflect the current operational environment," the statement said.

"Airservices conducts operational risk assessments to capture and define the management of risks and manage them to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable, and the TRA documentation states that Airservices' existing processes are both effective and appropriate for current levels of operational risk."

"Airservices has sufficient ARFF personnel to meet our regulatory obligations and is investing $1 billion over the next 10 years in equipment and facilities for our Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) crews."

The statement said the union's bargaining claims would cost the aviation industry and passengers an extra $128 million.

Airservices Australia said it would work with the airlines and airports to maintain safe operations and minimise any impact on the travelling public during the planned work stoppage.

General manager of people and culture at Adelaide Airport Dermot O'Neill said he was unsure "precisely what impact there might be on operations" at the airport, which was about to embark on its busiest month since the pandemic.

"At this stage, it's our intention to keep in touch with Air Services and we will provide any relevant updates to our customers via our social media channels and no doubt airlines will be doing the same thing," he said.

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World Central Kitchen, led by a humanitarian chef, has fed crisis zones for years

Rachel Treisman

José Andrés unloads food packages delivered by World Central Kitchen in Kherson, Ukraine in November 2022. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption

José Andrés unloads food packages delivered by World Central Kitchen in Kherson, Ukraine in November 2022.

The aid group World Central Kitchen said Tuesday that it is pausing its efforts to feed Palestinians in Gaza after seven of its workers were killed by an Israeli strike.

The nonprofit said in a statement that the team was hit while leaving a warehouse where they had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, a route that World Central Kitchen helped establish just last month.

The organization said the convoy had been traveling in a deconflicted zone, in armored cars branded with their logo and after coordinating movements with Israel's military, which now says it will conduct an investigation of the incident "at the highest levels." Erin Gore, the CEO of World Central Kitchen, called it a "targeted attack."

"This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war," she said.

The U.S.-based organization, which was founded by celebrity chef José Andrés and his wife Patricia in 2010, delivers food to people on the front lines of natural and humanitarian disasters around the world.

Middle East crisis — explained

World central kitchen pauses gaza aid, as netanyahu acknowledges an 'unintended hit'.

It has been working on the ground in the region since Hamas - led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and killed more than 1,200 people, according to the Israeli government. Israeli's military response in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, displaced an estimated 1.7 million and left the territory on the brink of famine .

WCK said last week that it had provided some 42 million meals to people in Gaza over 175 days, calling the situation there "the most dire we've ever seen or experienced in our 15 year history."

"More and more people, particularly children, are dying of starvation," Gore and Andrés said in a joint statement. "We've known for months that famine is imminent and the situation is getting worse."

With food scarce and malnutrition rising , international experts have warned that some 30% of Gaza's population is already facing " catastrophic" levels of hunger and that northern Gaza could officially see famine anytime between now and May.

World Central Kitchen isn't the only organization working to get food into Gaza, where aid deliveries are severely limited by Israeli border restrictions, logistical challenges and ongoing fighting. But it has played a major role in the humanitarian response, including sending two shipments of hundreds of tons of food to Gaza by sea.

The second such shipment — stocked with shelf-stable items like rice, canned vegetables and proteins, as well as dates in honor of Ramadan — left Cyprus on Saturday . The Cypriot foreign ministry said Tuesday that some 100 tons of aid had been unloaded in Gaza before WCK announced it was pausing its operations in the enclave, and the remaining 240 tons would be returned to Cyprus, according to the Associated Press .

Just days ago, WCK vowed it would keep pushing to get food into Gaza "until there is substantial aid getting in via land." Now those plans are up in the air — it says it will be "making decisions about the future of our work soon."

In the meantime, here's what else to know about the organization:

WCK brings food to the front lines of disasters

People line up for food prepared by a World Central Kitchen worker in Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine in December 2022. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP hide caption

People line up for food prepared by a World Central Kitchen worker in Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine in December 2022.

Andrés is a Spanish-American chef known for his numerous U.S. restaurants, PBS travel series and humanitarian work of over a decade.

He traveled to Haiti after it was struck by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in 2010, cooking for displaced people in camps — an ad hoc relief mission that helped set World Central Kitchen in motion.

WCK has responded to a long list of natural and man-made disasters ever since, working with local partners on the ground.

It served more than 20,000 meals in the Houston area after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and another 3.7 million across Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria , for which Andrés was named the James Beard humanitarian of the year in 2018 (seven years after winning its "outstanding chef" award).

He told NPR that same year that he expected to see more chefs getting involved in disaster response, since "restaurant people" are particularly well suited to managing chaos.

NPR's Book of the Day

In 'the world central kitchen cookbook,' josé andrés collects recipes with impact.

"What we are very good at is understanding the problem and adapting," he said. "And so a problem becomes an opportunity ... We're practical. We're efficient. And we can do it quicker, faster and better than anybody."

The organization has grown substantially over the years and expanded its efforts to focus not only on disaster response but resilience training and longer-term community needs, including opening a culinary school in Port-au-Prince several years after the earthquake that started it.

It has fed survivors of major wildfires in California and Hawaii , federal workers in D.C. during the 2019 government shutdown and stranded cruise ship passengers during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic , throughout which it provided food for front line workers and other vulnerable groups in the U.S. as well as Spain, Indonesia and the Dominican Republic.

It delivered hot meals and fresh produce to a Buffalo, N.Y., neighborhood after 10 people were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket , and distributed food after the Uvalde school shooting in Texas.

More recently, WCK provided more than 20 million meals to people impacted by the dual earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last April. And it has responded to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine by providing millions of meals to people there , first in hard-hit population centers and neighboring countries, and increasingly in more remote and vulnerable areas.

This is not the first time WCK has lost workers in a conflict zone

Workers hug on Tuesday after recovering the bodies of World Central Kitchen staff who were killed by Israeli air strikes in Rafah, Gaza. Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images hide caption

Workers hug on Tuesday after recovering the bodies of World Central Kitchen staff who were killed by Israeli air strikes in Rafah, Gaza.

World Central Kitchen has lost workers before.

Several team members have been killed in Ukraine in recent years, according to the organization.

It said in June that a 60-year-old volunteer named Igor was killed when Russian shelling hit his apartment building in Kharkiv, and that two other volunteers, Sardor and Viktoria, had been killed in a strike in Chuhuiv the previous July. (The group only identified them by their first names.)

Andrés told NPR's Morning Edition in December that WCK had lost a total of six people in Ukraine.

"As a cook, as a chef, when I founded this organization, I never expected that this will happen," he said. "And I almost wanted to pull World Central Kitchen immediately out of Ukraine. But the locals told me: 'José, You cannot leave. We need you. We need your organization.'"

Middle East

Gaza food crisis is nothing like anything chef josé andrés had seen before.

While conflict zones are inherently dangerous, the organization has also faced criticism over its safety record in the past.

In December, Bloomberg published a story alleging — among other accusations — that Andrés looked the other way on matters of staff safety, including demanding that staff send a food truck into parts of Turkey that local officials had declared "no-gos" due to landslides.

Andrés told NPR that disaster and war zones come with risks, and the organization doesn't "push anybody to go."

"Obviously, it's people that maybe they don't feel safe doing this job, but then they shouldn't be in these kind of humanitarian situations," he added. "But from there to say that José Andrés puts people in danger — I'd never be able to tell anybody to do what I'm not willing to do on my own."

The organization has won awards and faced upheaval

World Central Kitchen brought food to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, one of many natural disasters to which it's responded. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

World Central Kitchen brought food to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, one of many natural disasters to which it's responded.

WCK has earned plenty of accolades for its work over the years, but has also recently weathered a string of scandals.

Andrés was awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama and has twice been named one of TIME's most influential people, among them. A handful of Democratic lawmakers nominated WCK and Andrés himself for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.

The nonprofit — which operates on non-governmental contributions — has grown exponentially since its founding. It brought in more than $500 million in contributions and grants in 2022, which the New York Times reports was a fourfold increase from the year before.

While WCK gets perfect scores on watchdog sites like Charity Navigator and Charity Watch, there have been some concerns and criticisms raised recently about where exactly that money is going — including from within the organization itself.

A charity kitchen in Ukraine linked to chef José Andrés was destroyed by a missile

WCK announced last June that as it was spending some $2 million a day in Ukraine, it "learned of suspected instances of fraud" and commissioned a law firm to investigate. It ultimately confirmed instances of fraud that amounted to several million dollars, which the organization called "unacceptable, but still represents a tiny percentage of the $432 million we spent feeding people impacted by war."

It acknowledged it could have invested more in its internal operations to discover "bad actors," and said it was making changes among personnel and partners in both Ukraine and Turkey as a result — as well as implementing additional safeguards to combat fraud, like an anonymous tip line.

The organization has also grown in size, now counting thousands of volunteers and 94 employees, according to 2022 filings .

Humanitarian leaders are condemning the strike

United Nations staff members gather Tuesday around a World Central Kitchen car that was hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah in Gaza. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

United Nations staff members gather Tuesday around a World Central Kitchen car that was hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah in Gaza.

WCK said the seven workers killed in the Israeli strike included a Palestinian and citizens of Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom and Canada — with one a dual citizen of the U.S.

U.S. and foreign leaders as well as international organizations are offering their condolences and condemnations, and calling for an independent investigation into the Israeli military strike.

Philippe Lazzarini , the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) — which has lost at least 176 employees in Gaza — said the organization provides "much needed food assistance to a starving population."

Boiling weeds, eating animal feed: People in Gaza stave off hunger any way they can

He said humanitarian workers are #NotATarget, a hashtag that other human rights groups and public officials are using in their posts about the attack.

Andrés wrote on X that he is heartbroken and grieving for the loved ones of those killed, whom he described as "people ... angels."

"The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing," he said. "It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now."

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• Jose Andres
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