Fresh commuter chaos as RMT workers from 14 rail companies walk out and Tube services hit by severe delays

16 March 2023, 08:40 | Updated: 16 March 2023, 11:13

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

Commuters have been hit with fresh travel chaos as workers from 14 rail companies stage a national walkout and Tube services continue to be hit with severe delays.

Members of the RMT union are continuing their long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, with passengers warned of cancellations and severe delays.

Train services started later this morning and are expected to finish earlier, with the majority of services at 6.30pm.

Around half of train services will run nationally, with wide variations across the rail network.

Meanwhile, the majority of Tube lines did not start running until after 7.30am. There were severe delays on the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, District and Circle lines throughout the morning.

Yesterday saw thousands of Transport for London (TfL) workers walkout, with not a single Tube line in service.

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Passengers have also been warned to expect disruption again on future strike dates this Saturday, as well as Thursday March 30 and Saturday April 1.

Here is a full list of operators impacted:

• Avanti West Coast
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Great Western Railway
• LNER
• TransPennine Express
• c2c
• Greater Anglia
• GTR (Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink)
• Southeastern
• South Western Railway
• Chiltern Railways
• Northern Trains
• West Midlands Trains

Steve Montgomery, chair of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “This latest round of strikes will be a further inconvenience to our customers, who have already experienced months of disruption, and cost our people even more money at a time they can least afford it.

“They will also be asking why the RMT leadership blocked the chance to resolve this dispute by refusing to give their members – many of whom would have benefited from a 13% increase – a say on their own deal.

“Unfortunately, while we will pull out all the stops to keep as many trains running as possible, there will be reduced services across many parts of the rail network on all four strike days, so our advice is to check before you travel."

But RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: "Rail employers are not being given a fresh mandate by the Government to offer our members a new deal on pay, conditions and job security.

"Therefore, our members will now take sustained and targeted industrial action over the next few months. The Government can settle this dispute easily by unshackling the rail companies.

"However, its stubborn refusal to do so will now mean more strike action across the railway network and a very disruptive overtime ban.”

Yesterday saw the biggest industrial strike action taken by TfL workers in several months.

Huge queues former outside London bus stations, as well as some Tube stations operating on the Elizabeth line, including Tottenham Court Road.

There was no service on any Tube lines during the 24-hour walkout, with disruption continuing through until Thursday morning.