The transport secretary and the Labour mayors of three major cities have continued to argue over cuts to Avanti rail services caused by staff shortages.
Avanti West Coast, which runs services from London through the West Midlands and the North West to Glasgow and Edinburgh, has introduced a reduced timetable 'until further notice'.
It said this ‘is due to the current industrial relations climate which has resulted in severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels, as well as the majority of drivers making themselves unavailable for overtime in a co-ordinated fashion, and at short notice’.
It added: ‘As a result of this, customers have faced multiple short-notice cancellations on our network which has had a severe impact on their plans.
‘The reduced timetable is being introduced to ensure a reliable service is delivered so our customers can travel with greater certainty. This decision was not taken lightly, and we are sorry for the enormous frustration and inconvenience this will cause.’
Avanti is one of nine firms hit by industrial action by drivers on Saturday, ‘after the companies failed to make a pay offer to help our members keep up with the increase in the cost of living,’ according to their union, ASLEF.
In response to an earlier letter, Mr Shapps wrote to metro mayors - Sadiq Khan (London), Andy Burnham (Manchester) and Steve Rotheram (Liverpool) - that it ‘stretches credulity’ to believe that a 90% drop in drivers volunteering to work overtime ‘can be anything other than unofficial industrial action’.
He claimed that with most Avanti drivers contracted to work a 35 hour week, ‘like most train operators, the West Coast Main Line needs a degree of voluntary workdays to operate its full timetable’.
However critics have pointed out that this only holds true if the number of drivers employed is insufficient to meet the needs of the service without overtime.
In a tweet Mr Shapps then appeared to address this issue, stating: ‘Clearly our rail system needs reform when it relies on voluntary working to function properly.’
Mr Burnham responded that the transport secretary had not responded to many of the mayors’ points, including a request for an urgent meeting ‘to discuss how we might find a resolution’.
Separately, the Rail Delivery Group said that some parts of the country will have little or no rail services on Thursday and Saturday because of further strike action by the RMT and TSSA unions.
It advised passengers to only travel by train if it is absolutely necessary, allow extra time and check when their last train will depart.
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