Metro overtime ban: When will services be hit and how you could be entitled to a refund on your journey

Metro services could be affected as an overtime ban starts on Sunday, December 1.

Nexus said that both the RMT and ASLEF, the trades unions that represent Metro train crew, have rejected a 15% pay increase.

Nexus added that services on some days are likely to be busier than usual and operate less frequently. Passengers are advised to check for information before they travel.

In a statement the operator said: “Metro is aiming to protect peak ‘rush hour’ services as much as possible, though some disruption is inevitable. There may also be occasions when trains are cancelled at short notice due to lack of cover when a member of train crew becomes unavailable at short notice.

“Where passenger journeys take 15 minutes or longer then they will be entitled to a full refund.

“During the overtime ban Nexus, the public body which owns and manages Metro, will publish the predicted level of Metro service frequency in advance of each day.”

Metro Services Director, Chris Carson, said: “We are extremely disappointed that the unions have rejected a 15 percent pay rise and improvements to rostering arrangements as part of a final package, and have opted to press ahead with this damaging and unjustified industrial action.

“The overtime ban will disrupt the daily lives of many people who rely on Metro to get to places of work and education each and every day, and we can only apologise to passengers for any difficulties they encounter as a result.

“Some disruption is inevitable but we will do what we can to keep services running despite this unjustified industrial action. We will forecast the level of service we anticipate each day and will publish it in advance through our website and our official Twitter page.

“We have offered our train crew an unprecedented deal for Metro and we remain astonished that it has been turned down.

“Metro is a publicly owned railway, it does not make any profit, and it can only operate thanks to significant subsidy paid by taxpayers. What the unions are demanding is simply unaffordable and unrealistic.

“The unions have said they are going ahead with the industrial action but I’d urge them to reconsider their position and to look again at our offer. This action will only harm an essential public service and disrupt many thousands of people.”

Nexus says the offer to its drivers of a 15% increase in salary over two years on top of annual cost of living rises would take their annual salary up to an estimated £46,000 per annum by April 1, 2022.