More than 90 per cent of Chiltern Railways services through Aylesbury to run as normal despite industrial action on day of England match
Chiltern Railways says that more than 90 per cent of its services through Aylesbury will run as scheduled, despite members of the RMT union announcing strike action on Thursday November 12, when England are due to play at Wembley in football’s Nations League competition.
The rail operator says that the majority of its services will be unaffected, and that trains will be running to and from Wembley Stadium Station in the build-up to England’s match against Croatia, which kicks-off at 7.45pm.
The RMT has called the strike action over how Chiltern Railways proposes to operate services on the East West Rail line between Oxford and Milton Keynes.
The physical track between the two stations, which includes a new station at Winslow, has been ready to open to passengers since late 2024, but is currently only used for testing, freight and driver training.
The delays have been partially blamed on Chiltern Railways proposed use of Driver-Only Operation (DOO) on the route, which is the RMT is opposed to.
RMT took part in 24-hour strikes on two Saturdays in October over the proposed use of DOO.
However, Chiltern Railways interim managing director Tony Baxter said: “We’re disappointed that the RMT is continuing with industrial action over how we intend to run services on the first stage of East West Rail between Oxford and Milton Keynes.
“We expect to run the vast majority of our services on that day, helping to minimise disruption for customers, and will publish confirmed timetables as soon as possible.”
Speaking about the proposed use of DOO Mr Baxter added: “Every East West Rail service will have two people on board - the driver, and a colleague looking after passengers - checking tickets, helping people who need assistance, and on hand to assist with any issues.
“We have run most of our trains with the driver in control of the doors for decades, safely and as approved by the independent rail regulator.
“It also means over 100 new permanent jobs at Chiltern, and no changes to the roles of existing colleagues.
“We remain committed to working with the RMT to resolve this and urge them to work with us so passengers can start benefiting from this new railway as soon as possible.”
The industrial action is expected to disrupt direct Chiltern Railways services between Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa, Chiltern Railways services operating north of Birmingham Moor Street and the overall number of services running between Leamington Spa and Birmingham Moor Street.