Strike brings total halt to rail services

A train drivers strike brought a total halt to many services around Great Britain on Wednesday as the union leaders said they hoped to find a solution to deal with the government to end the long-running dispute over pay.

Delegates who had remained at the Conservative party conference for Liz Truss speech were unable to travel by train with Avanti, CrossCountry, Chiltern and West Midlands, which were among the 12 operators left without drivers.

Motorways and urban roads into several major cities were heavily congested as major train operations across Great Britain were shut down by the 24 hour Aslef strike.

Transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who had appeared to hold out an olive branch to unions in recent days, told Conservatives in a conference speech on Tuesday that the country needs more damaging industrial disputes and told them to bring forward positive proposals, and told unions: Let s find a landing zone that we can all work with. The unions said there had yet to be a substantive move in talks with the rail industry despite the marked change in tone from her predecessor, Grant Shapps.

Aslef's general secretary, Mick Whelan, said only the government could solve the dispute but that he had found Trevelyan welcoming and listening, and looked forward to trying to find a solution together with a picket line outside the closed Euston station on Wednesday. Whelan told the PA news agency he would continue to talk but feared Truss would not get the mood music of the country over the cost of living crisis and need for pay rises. He said that only the government can correct this and we ask them to do so. Members of the TSSA union at many rail operators are either on a strike or taking continuous action short of a strike, including an overtime ban. Since July, the TSSA hasn't had any talks with train operators, according to its general secretary, Manuel Cortes. He said they would welcome a new broom but Trevelyan needs to be proactive and committed, unlike her predecessor, who was an obstacle to progress. The RMT union said it was still in talks but there was no chance of this Saturday s strikes by its members at Network Rail and 14 train operators being called off. About 20% of normal services are expected to run, mainly between 7 am and 7 pm.

A source close to the talks said it was clear that the situation was in flux backstage but there was no change in the industry's official negotiating position.

According to the recent Ipsos UK polling, public opinion is more supportive than opposed to the unions and strikes. Music stars who are recording a song in support of rail workers are backing the song. The members of Primal Scream, Dexys Midnight Runners and the Jesus and Mary Chain have come together to work on a song called Enough Is Enough, which will be released at the end of the month.

Kevin Rowland, lead singer of Dexys, said that RMT has been leading the way on behalf of working people and now other unions are joining the fight against low pay and this government that is trying to screw working people into the ground. On the track will be interviews by the RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, a viral sensation. He said that it shows the growing amount of support for social justice and the fact that trade unions are the only thing that stand in the way of endless austerity and poverty. Traffic tracking firms showed travellers had switched to cars, with Waze reporting speeds of 8 mph on stretches of the M 25, A 40 and M 60, while TomTom said congestion levels had risen significantly from last week in cities including Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.

The Department for Transport said: We urge union bosses to reconsider this divisive action and instead work with their employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.