COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

The service has only recently got back to normal but will be stopped during the three day strikes



No trains will run between Nuneaton, Bedworth, Coventry and Leamington Spa during the three-day national rail strike. West Midlands Railway (WMR) has revealed that it is being forced to run a reduced timetable during the industrial action being held next week.

Among the changes are plans to stop all services between Nuneaton, Bedworth, Coventry and Leamington. This means that commuters and train users will not be able to travel along this line on Tuesday, June 21, Thursday, June 23 and Saturday, June 25.

The hourly service was only put back on the timetable in February after bus replacements were put in place due to Covid staff shortages. Now on the three planned strike days next week there will be no service along the line at all.

Services between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International will only run once an hour due to the strike action being held by the RMT union members in a dispute over pay and redundancies.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: "It is very disappointing that this planned strike action by the RMT is set to cause significant disruption to our passengers. We will be operating a very limited service all through the week and we are asking customers to only travel with us if their journey is essential and no other transport option is available to them.

"Passengers holding tickets or season tickets will be entitled to refunds and should visit our website for information."

Strike action to bring some Coventry rail services to a halt next weekend



West Midlands Railway is asking passengers to travel in advance ahead of strike action next week. On Wednesday (July 27) there will be a limited service in place and on Saturday (July 30) there will be no services running.

Wednesday's disruption is due to strike action by members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). Passengers are advised to only travel if essential as trains will only run between 7.30am and 6.30pm on a small number of routes.

Routes with a limited service are:

• Cross-City Line (Lichfield Trent Valley – Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street) – 2 trains per hour
  
• Wolverhampton – Birmingham – 1 train per hour
  
• Birmingham New Street – Birmingham International – 1 train per hour

On Saturday, industrial action will be carried out by members of train driver union Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) and passengers will be unable to travel on West Midlands Railway services as a result. Specially arranged road travel will be put on for people travelling to Commonwealth Games events.

No trains will run on any other West Midlands Railway (WMR) services. This includes all routes via Birmingham Snow Hill, Birmingham-Shrewsbury, Birmingham-Worcester-Hereford and Nuneaton- Leamington Spa.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: On both affected dates customers should only travel if their journey is essential and they have no means of transport available to them.

"On Saturday, July 30, the extent of the strike action means there will be no West Midlands Railway services at all and customers with essential reasons to travel will need to use alternative modes of transport. People holding advance tickets for travel on the affected dates can use them on alternative dates or return them to their point of purchase for a refund."

Avanti West Coast will also be running a limited service on Wednesday, predicting that it will be running at 25 per cent its normal capacity as a result of the RMT strikes. Services running through Coventry and Nuneaton affected are the direct routes to Birmingham New Street, London Euston and Blackpool North.

Phil Whittingham, managing director of Avanti West Coast, said: "We’re strongly advising customers to only travel where absolutely necessary on our route during the strike and instead make their journeys on alternative days or claim a full refund. We understand some people will have no choice but to travel and they should check our website for the latest updates before travelling."

On why rail workers are striking, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Railway workers have been treated appallingly and despite our best efforts in negotiations, the rail industry with the support of the government has failed to take their concerns seriously. We have a cost-of-living crisis, and it is unacceptable for railway workers to either lose their jobs or face another year of a pay freeze when inflation is at 11.1 per cent and rising.

"Our union will now embark on a sustained campaign of industrial action which will shut down the railway system. Rail companies are making at least £500m a year in profits, whilst fat cat rail bosses have been paid millions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This unfairness is fuelling our members anger and their determination to win a fair settlement. RMT is open to meaningful negotiations with rail bosses and ministers, but they will need to come up with new proposals to prevent months of disruption on our railways."

Keir Starmer sacks Angela Rayner’s shadow minister boyfriend for joining rail strike picket line



Sir Keir Starmer has sacked Sam Tarry from the Labour front bench for appearing on a rail strike picket line.

Mr Tarry, who was the shadow transport minister and is in a relationship with Angela Rayner, joined a picket line at Euston Station on Wednesday morning.

Sir Keir banned Labour frontbenchers from taking part in the strikes last month, when he said it was not the role of MPs to involve themselves in industrial action.

A Labour source indicated that Mr Tarry had been sacked because he had given a round of media interviews, despite six other frontbenchers keeping their jobs after picketing last month.

But his departure comes after a rift in the shadow cabinet over Sir Keir's position on the strikes.

The Telegraph understands at least one shadow cabinet minister has privately told the Labour leader that shadow ministers should be allowed to take part in pickets, and pointed to the party's history as the political arm of the trade union movement.

Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT union, accused Sir Keir of abandoning working-class voters and getting in a "pickle" over the strikes, which forced the closure of much of the UK’s rail services on Wednesday.

"Most of the MPs in the Labour Party want to support us instinctively and naturally because they are from the trade union movement, every one of them," he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He added that Sir Keir should "work out a set of principles and policies that appeal to working class people in all those communities that the Labour Party lost at the last election".

One shadow cabinet source said that Mr Tarry was hoping to be sacked from the front bench in an attempt to shore up support among hard-Left Labour members in his constituency of Ilford South, where he is facing de-selection ahead of the next election.