Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports of upcoming rail strikes, what steps they are taking to implement contingency plans to minimise disruption for passengers.

The rail strikes are being held by ASLEF, the only rail trade union in a national dispute with train operators following the rejection of a fair pay offer of 8 per cent over two years in exchange for much needed workforce reforms. This would have raised the average train driver’s salary to around £65,000 pa. We continue to urge ASLEF to put industry’s fair offer to its members in the train operating companies so, like the members of other rail trade unions, they too can have a say and bring disruption to an end.

In the meantime, we are continuing to work closely with train operators to ensure the disruption is minimised as much as possible. The Government has put in place legislation to enable train operators to deliver minimum levels of service during strikes. It is a decision for individual employers whether to use this new tool to mitigate the impact of strikes, but we expect operators to be ready and able to do so, and to make that decision in the best interests of passengers.