London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Rail strikes: 'Significantly reduced timetable' as train workers stage 24-hour walk-out

Rail strikes: 'Significantly reduced timetable' as train workers stage 24-hour walk-out

Avanti West Coast will run just one train an hour from London Euston to Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow on Saturday with services from the capital expected to be halted in mid-afternoon.

Train passengers have been warned to expect disruption on rail networks as a strike hits services on some of Britain's busiest routes today.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union working for Avanti West Coast are staging a 24-hour walk-out in a dispute over rosters.

Commuters have been warned to expect a "significantly reduced" timetable on Saturday during limited operating hours.

Avanti West Coast will run one train an hour from London Euston to Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool respectively, with the last service due to leave the station mid-afternoon.

Services will travel to Liverpool via the West Midlands, including Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton, due to scheduled works by Network Rail between Rugby and Stafford.

The planned upgrading will also see some trains diverted, meaning journey times could be longer than expected.

There will be no Avanti West Coast services in North Wales, Shrewsbury, Chester, Blackpool and Edinburgh as a result of the reduced timetable.


The RMT said staff were suffering from "dreadfully low morale" and were feeling "completely neglected" as the company increases its services in response to criticism for reducing its timetable over the summer.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the strike is the end-result of "months of neglect" and the "only way train managers feel they can voice their concerns".

Avanti West Coast managers formed a picket line at Manchester Piccadilly station on Saturday morning as RMT members called for a "fair work/life balance".

"Avanti continue to be totally unreasonable in negotiations and seem incapable of taking responsibility for the mess they have caused," Mr Lynch said.

Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary, on a picket line outside London Euston train station in August


"They show little concern for the health and safety of our members as some of their rostering proposals would lead to unacceptable levels of fatigue amongst train managers.

"Avanti should never have been given any extension to their franchise contract for all the chaos they have caused the travelling public.

"We remain open for meaningful talks to resolve the dispute but be in no doubt our industrial campaign will continue for as long as it takes."

The train managers involved in the dispute are also due to strike on 6 November.

Barry Milsom, executive director of operations and safety at Avanti West Coast said the company was "disappointed" by the strike action.

"Our customers are facing another weekend of disruption and I would like to thank them for their continued patience and understanding.

"We all need to be working together for the long-term benefit of our people and customers.

"So, we ask RMT to engage in meaningful industry reform talks around modernising working practices and developing a railway fit for the 21st century."


Commuters are bracing for further chaos on public transport next month when railway workers at 14 train companies stage strikes on 3, 5 and 7 November.

London Overground and Tube workers will also take action on 3 November.

Meanwhile a London Poppy Day fundraiser scheduled for the same day has been cancelled due to the upcoming strikes.

The Royal British Legion annual event, which aims to raise £1m in a day, "will not go ahead as planned", the charity, which supports veterans of the armed forces and their families, confirmed.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×