Further disruption for rail passengers tomorrow as Northern train staff walk out again

Northern Rail workers will stage their 44th strike tomorrow in the long-running dispute over guards on trains.
Northern staff will strike again tomorrowNorthern staff will strike again tomorrow
Northern staff will strike again tomorrow

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union on Arriva Rail North (Northern) are embroiled in a bitter row over staffing, with no sign of an end to the deadlock.

Picket lines will be mounted outside stations across the region and passengers have been warned that services that do run will be busy.

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Further strikes are planned on Saturdays throughout January.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT Northern members will be striking again tomorrow in the long-running fight to put public safety before private profit as the company refuses to lift the axe from above the heads of their safety-critical guards.

"It is frankly disgraceful that the German-owned parent company is deliberately prolonging the dispute so that they can milk the British taxpayer for a series of secretive subsidies and bailouts.

"RMT continues to make every effort to get serious and meaningful talks going withNorthern but the company prefers to ignore the safety concerns of their staff and the public alike in a show of complete and utter contempt.

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"We thank the public for their support and understanding throughout this dispute over rail safety and access and the union remains ready for genuine and serious talks."

David Brown, managing director at Northern, said: "More than 50% of all rail journeys in the UK are made on driver-controlled trains and recently the Department for Transport, and Transport for the North, publicly confirmed that a second person - in addition to the driver - would be retained on Northern services.

"This second person will provide customer service, including meeting customer needs on accessibility, safety, security, ticketing and information.

"Therefore, there is no reason for the RMT to continue its disruptive and economically damaging strikes but despite this, the RMT continues with its strike action.

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"We expect all of our service on Saturdays in January to be extremely busy and are calling on our customers to plan their travel carefully for the coming weekend, check the new timetables well in advance, and make sure they do not rely on the last trains home."