Posted: Tue 3rd Oct 2017

RMT workers strike action set to hit Merseyrail services today

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Oct 3rd, 2017

Merseyrail guards will walk out today, Tuesday October 3 in a dispute over the axing of guards on new driver only trains set to come into operation 2020.

Guards represented by the RMT union will also be taking strike action on Thursday October 5.

Passengers travelling to, from and within the Liverpool City Region are being urged to plan their journeys and check before they travel ahead of the strike action on the Merseyrail network.

Most Merseyrail services are planned to run every half hour from around 7am to 7pm, with a break in service between 1130 and 1430.

15 minute services will be maintained between 0730 and midnight between Liverpool South Parkway (LSP) and Liverpool Central, as LSP will be the mainline rail hub during the Lime Street station upgrade work (30th September to 22nd October).

Those traveling to Liverpool city centre on the Shotton to Bidston line are advised to change at Upton and to take the ARRIVA No 437 bus service into Liverpool.

You will be able to use your rail ticket on board this Arriva bus service only, without additional charge.

The bus stop can be found across the main road outside Upton station.

Passengers are strongly advised to check the Merseyrail website and Twitter feed before travelling, as it is possible that timetables will change prior to, as well as during, strike action.

Said Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde, Managing Director at Merseyrail:

“The RMT has deliberately targeted these two strikes days to take place as the major programme of work to upgrade Lime Street mainline stations gets underway.

This follows their previous form, where they have targeted the Grand National at Aintree, the LIMF and Fusion music festivals and the Open Golf tournament at Royal Birkdale.

“We have devised a timetable that helps keep the city region moving, and our services will get people to and from Liverpool South Parkway, as planned.

However, it does mean that there will be fewer services on other parts of the network, so we urge our passengers to consult our website and follow us on social media in order to plan their journeys.

The RMT has writen to Merseyrail owners with “realistic and fair” proposal to resolve the ongoing dispute and has written to Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram urging him to support the initiative.

Merseyrail’s joint owners are the Dutch Government, through Abellio, and corporate giant SERCO. Rail bosses have alleged that the annual cost of keeping the Guard is £5 million.

In the letter RMT General Secretary Mick Cash has highlighted that Merseyrail’s owners have already paid out an eye watering £108.2 million in dividends and in the future they can expect to pay out an additional £142 – 215.3 million by the end of the franchise in 2028.

Mick Cash has proposed that the owners each pay a contribution to keep the Guards, whilst also being able to continue to pay out substantial dividends to shareholders.

Mick Cash said;

“Merseyrail’s owners stand to make hundreds of millions of pounds out of this contract on the back of passengers’ fares and Merseyrail’s workforce.

Their accounts show they have already paid out an eye watering £108.2 million in dividends and on this basis, our calculations show they can expect to pay out an additional £142 – £215.3 million by the end of the franchise in 2028.

So we think it is a fair and reasonable offer, which says if you want to carry on paying out big dividends, in return, then we also want you to make a contribution to pay for the Guards. We are saying cut your profits so we can keep our Guards.

“We hope that Merseyrail’s owners can respond positively to this proposal, especially as one of the owners is in effect the Dutch government, and we also hope that Steve Rotheram can publicly say he supports this initiative.”

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