Merseyside commuters hit by strike action

A 48-hour strike by Merseyrail staff in the dispute over driver-only operated trains which started yesterday is continuing today (Monday, September).

The action is being taken by members of the Rail, Maritme and Transport union (RMT) and will affect services around Liverpool.

RMT claims the proposed introduction of driver-only operated trains is “unsafe” and will result in large scale job losses, while Merseyrail said the strikes were “unnecessary”.

Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde, managing director at Merseyrail, said on the BBC: “The RMT union is continuing its campaign against the staffing arrangements for the new trains, and once again, it will be passengers who are inconvenienced by this action.

“With none of our permanent guards being forced to leave Merseyrail, these strikes are unnecessary.
“The new trains will be modern, safer, faster and more reliable than the ones they replace, with the capacity to support economic growth.”

The RMT is in dispute with three companies – Merseyrail, Northern and Southern.

The following services are affected: Merseyrail – today trains will run only between approximately 7am and 7pm. On all strike dates, there will be no trains running on the Ellesmere Port, Hunts Cross and Kirkby lines.

Northern – Northern, which is part of the Arriva Group, said the majority of trains would run between 7am and 7pm with services on some routes finishing earlier. During these hours the overall number of trains operating will be significantly reduced.