Talks to end rail dispute break down in acrimony

Rancour and recriminations as rail strike talks collapse

- Gwyn Topham

Talks to avert a second national rail strike collapsed in rancour yesterday as millions of passengers faced another day of disruption.

In an increasingly fraught and bitter dispute, the head of the RMT hit out at the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, for "wrecking negotiations" over pay, working conditions and "modernisation" plans to cut costs after the pandemic.

Shapps said that the RMT claim was "a total lie", while Network Rail claimed the union had walked away from talks.

The rail industry asked passengers to travel only if necessary today, with fewer than one in five trains in Great Britain expected to run as 40,000 RMT members working for Network Rail and 13 train operating companies go on strike. Trains services were expected to be sporadic and limited to mainlines and urban areas between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Drivers from the Aslefunion were also joining the strike action today on the Greater Anglia network.

The general secretary of the RMT Mick Lynch, blamed the transport secretary for the failure of the talks. "Grant Shapps has wrecked these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw their letter threatening redundancy for 2,900 of our members," he said. "Until the government unshackles Network Rail and the train operating companies, it is not going to be possible for a negotiated settlement to be agreed.

"We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost of living crisis."