Delay fears for East West Rail launch as staff to strike over door row
The opening of the new East West Rail route is facing further delays due to strikes
The opening of a £7bn railway, which would connect Oxford and Cambridge for the first time in decades, is set to face further delays due to calls for industrial action.
Listen to this article
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), said on Tuesday that its Chiltern Railways members have agreed to take 24-hour strike action in protest over plans for drivers to control the opening and closing of carriage doors on services along the new East West Rail (EWR) route.
The RMT warned of extreme safety concerns as it hit out at the proposal.
The Union said that Chiltern "refused to provide guarantees over the safety critical role of the second person" on board services.
Read more: Chiltern Railways To Add More Services From Christmas Day Following New Public Ownership
Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said the driver-only operation proposed on EWR "represented a significant risk to safety and the current Train Manager roles".
He said: "The actions of Chiltern management to not take these concerns seriously is totally unacceptable.
"RMT will not accept the watering down of safety on the rail network."
The planned strike action is due to last for 24 hours on 10 and 17 October.
Tony Baxter, the interim managing director of Chiltern Railways, said the firm was "disappointed" by the vote in favour of industrial action, adding that it expected to operate the "vast majority" of services on the days of the industrial action.
The Department for Transport (DfT) defended the driver-only operation, saying that Chiltern had "run most of its network for decades with the driver in full control of the doors', and that this was a 'model approved by the independent rail regulator".
Baxter added: "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 infrastructure between Oxford and Milton Keynes was due to begin services by the end of December 2025, but has faced significant delays.
When complete, East West Rail will directly connect the two university cities of Oxford and Cambridge by train for the first time in decades.
The planned route, which will travel via Milton Keynes and Bedford, is hoped to be completed by the mid to late 2030s.
Earlier this month, Chiltern Railways was brought into public ownership after 30 years as a private company.
It is the 10th rail company now under the Great British Railways (GBR), the government's programme of public ownership, which it says will save money and improve services.