BRITS will face misery on the rails AGAIN tomorrow after peace talks between the RMT and the Government failed today.
Hardline union chiefs announced this afternoon that services will halt once again tomorrow – and accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of “wrecking” negotiations.
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It comes after the country was paralysed by walk-outs on Tuesday, with problems stretching on into this morning.
Just 60 per cent of normal morning services ran earlier – with Brits urged not to travel until noon so train services can catch up.
Trains normally leave depots between 3am and 4am ready for early morning journeys.
But because signallers and control room staff were on strike yesterday, trains were unable to depart until today’s morning shift staff came in between 6am and 6.30am.
This meant no passenger services can run before 6.30am – a four hour delay in some areas.
Network Rail warned that “even during the day the service will stay thinner” than normal – with Brits urged not to travel until around 12pm.
The London Underground was no better for commuters today, with the Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith and City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Piccadilly and Waterloo and City lines all suspended during the morning commute.
TfL had earlier said that no Tube services will run before 8am.
Londoners were told to postpone their journey until mid-morning.
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Anthony Smith, the chief executive of Transport Focus, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Today is going to be quite a messy day still.
“Virtually all of the train companies have special timetables in place, services are starting up late and trains and staff are not in the right place.
“So please do not assume that this is a normal day.
“If you are going to travel by train check before you leave the house, check on the way to the station and, for goodness sake, bring a bottle of water with you.”
Yesterday’s walkouts saw stations deserted as millions worked from home to beat the transport carnage.
Thousands of signal workers, cleaners and maintenance staff from the RMT union walked out in an increasingly bitter dispute over pay and modernisation.
Tomorrow’s strike had been almost certain to go ahead, regardless of the outcome of fresh talks between rail bosses and union barons today.
Yesterday’s action — the largest in a generation — hit Network Rail and 13 train operators.
There were almost no passenger trains for the entire day, cutting off most of Scotland and Wales, all of Cornwall and Dorset, Chester, Hull, Lincoln and Worcester.
It comes as:
- Boris Johnson said Britain must “stay the course” and take on the unions, or risk “disaster for this country”
- Labour plunged into civil war as MPs joined picket lines in defiance of leader Sir Keir Starmer.
- Ministers privately hinted they were prepared to give railway workers bigger rises than nurses if they agree to modernisation.
Just a fifth of trains ran, with half of lines and the Tube closed. Less than two-thirds will run today due to the delay in starting services, plus control room staff refusing to work overnight.
The hospitality sector fears total losses of £1billion over the week — while the railways will suffer £150million losses too.
And it’s only set to get worse, as teachers could be next to join the summer strikes misery — after 40,000 RMT workers brought railways to a standstill yesterday.
The National Education Union today tells No10 it wants 12 per cent rises for its members by September.
Yesterday 1980s miners’ strike leader Arthur Scargill, 84, supported the RMT in Wakefield, West Yorks.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi warned teachers risk wrecking kids’ recovery from the Covid pandemic if their unions vote to strike.
He exclusively told The Sun: “Young people have suffered more disruption to their education than any generation gone before, and it’s the vital work of teachers that is helping them get back on track.
“The last thing I — or any parent — want to see is anything that would risk undoing that progress.”
NEU chief Mary Bousted will write to Mr Zahawi today threatening industrial action.
She told TalkTV: “We’re going to be asking for a pay rise, which matches inflation.”
She told Mr Zahawi to “get around the negotiating table now”, adding: “If the Secretary of State refuses to do that, we will then survey our members to see if they are willing to take strike action, which is always a last resort.”
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