{"id":754705,"date":"2026-08-30T16:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/754705\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T16:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T16:00:14","slug":"train-drivers-secure-3-6-pay-rise-after-threat-of-strikes-on-busy-uk-routes-rail-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/754705\/","title":{"rendered":"Train drivers secure 3.6% pay rise after threat of strikes on busy UK routes | Rail transport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Train drivers have secured a significant pay rise after the threat of strike action was floated on busy routes across the UK, including on the busy London-Manchester line.<\/p>\n

The deal, which was agreed on Saturday between Avanti West Coast and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) union, is the first to be approved by Andy Burnham in his premiership.<\/p>\n

As well as the London-Manchester line \u2013 likely to see increased ministerial traffic after the establishment of the No 10 North office \u2013 the company also operates services to other big British cities such as Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool.<\/p>\n

Coming after Aslef announced plans in June to ballot members about possible strike action over pay, the deal \u2013 first reported by the Sunday Times \u2013 will be seen as a victory for the union. It includes a 3.6% pay rise for drivers, 0.7 percentage points higher than the latest inflation rate, as well as time and a half pay for working Sundays, and \u00a3720 if drivers work a fifth day in the week.<\/p>\n

Avanti is to be renationalised under the Labour government by spring 2027, with all rail companies due to be under government control by the end of that year. The operator, which is seen as having the worst punctuality rating<\/a> for any major rail company in the UK, based on figures from the Office of Rail and Road, has cut multiple services in the past year, including the 7am train between Manchester and London, which it cut and brought back in the space of a few days<\/a> after public scrutiny.<\/p>\n

The government said it had \u201cprioritised resolving the rail union disputes, improving services for passengers and saving hundreds of millions in lost revenue to ease the burden on taxpayers\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the shadow transport secretary, Richard Holden, said the government was \u201ctotally capitulating to their union paymasters\u201d and that \u201ctaxpayers are being asked to stump up millions simply to save Burnham\u2019s blushes\u201d.<\/p>\n

An Aslef spokesperson said on Saturday: \u201cOur job is to enhance our members\u2019 terms and conditions and this deal, struck with Avanti West Coast and approved by the DFTO (Department for Transport<\/a> Operator), has been accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A Department for Transport spokesperson said: \u201cWe are pleased to see Avanti West Coast work with Aslef to enable a fair and affordable settlement to keep Britain\u2019s railways moving and prevent disruption for passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Train drivers have secured a significant pay rise after the threat of strike action was floated on busy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-754705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}