Is there a train strike tomorrow? Full list of July 2023 strikes and the rail services affected

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has organised another rail strike this weekend that will significantly disrupt train travel.

RMT workers staged two days of strikes last week, on Thursday and Saturday, while train drivers represented by Aslef have been refusing to work any overtime.

Both unions have been engaged in long-running disputes with rail companies over pay, jobs and working conditions.

When is the next train strike?

The RMT will strike again on Sunday 29 July.

National Rail said: “This is likely to result in little or no services across large areas of the network. Services are also likely to be disrupted and start later on the day immediately following a strike day. Passengers are warned to expect significant disruption and advised to plan ahead and check before they travel.”

The following operators will be affected by the strike. You can find out more from each individual operator via the links below:

Additionally, Aslef members at 15 train operating companies will again refuse to work overtime from Monday 31 July to Saturday 5 August.

Aslef said it had “no alternative but to take this action” as it continues to fight for better pay for its members amid the cost of living crisis.

The overtime ban will affect services operated by 15 rail companies. The following operators have said they do not expect to be able to run their full timetable:

The following companies are currently expecting to be able to run their full timetable, but may experience short notice cancellations:

Why are rail strikes happening?

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This latest phase of action will show the country just how important railway staff are to the running of the rail industry.

“My team of negotiators and I are available 24/7 for talks with the train operating companies and Government ministers.

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“Yet quite incredibly neither party has made any attempt whatsoever to arrange any meetings or put forward a decent offer that can help us reach a negotiated solution.”

Mr Lynch said RMT members were prepared to continue taking industrial action “for as long as it takes” and that he believed their action over the past year had been an inspiration to other workers embroiled in disputes.

He added: “Train companies invest little or nothing in our railways and make completely unjustifiable profits, which they squirrel away in shareholder dividends and bosses’ pay packets.

“It is a scandal that the travelling public is being ripped off by greedy rail privateers while at the same time the Government oversees a corrupt system and prolongs a rail dispute for political reasons.

“It is high time this profits bonanza gravy train was halted, a deal done with the RMT, and the railways returned to public ownership for the good of the country and railway workers.”

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the rail companies, said how the railway is funded has changed: “The franchise model no longer exists, and train operators are paid on a small performance-related fixed-fee basis.

“They make a profit margin, typically 0.5 per cent, just like all other Government suppliers. Even if that fee were removed in its entirety, it wouldn’t come close to funding the pay rise set out, which would cost almost double the profit margin for one year alone.

“Even before the pandemic, under franchising, operators retained just 2p of every pound raised through ticket sales.”

The RDG said in its statement that since the first RMT strike in June 2022, industrial action had cost the sector £620m.