Great Western Coffee Shop

09 June 2022

As you will have seen in the media, the RMT union has instructed its members at CrossCountry and with many of our rail industry partners to take strike action on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June.

We are disappointed at the RMT’s decision, which we believe to be premature. I would like to offer my apologies for the inconvenience these strikes will cause our passengers and the inevitable disruption to the places and communities we serve.

Final details of the services we will be able to provide are still being agreed and will be published on our website as soon as they are available. However, if the strikes go ahead it is likely we will be unable to operate any trains between Bristol and Birmingham, Birmingham and Cardiff, west of Plymouth or between Southampton and Bournemouth. In places where our trains can operate these will be significantly fewer than our normal timetable, and there may also be disruption on the days before and after each strike day.

We have suspended Advance tickets sales for the dates involved, and anyone who has already purchased a ticket for 21, 23 or 25 June can use this to travel on any day up to and including 20 June.

I shall be in touch again when we have any further information. In the meantime, if you have any questions then do let me know.

Yours sincerely,
Interim Regional Director, West & Wales

I've read that the TOCs hands are being sat on by the Powers that be,sadly not able to provide a quote as not in the public domain.

It's one of those rock and a hard place situations that absolutely no good will come of .

Interesting that XC (and other TOCs, I understand), believe the action to be 'premature' when they have made no effort to enter into any negotiations with the Union(s) to date.

The PM needs to repair (or attempt to repair) his fatally damaged reputation, I suspect he sees taking the 'Thatcher' approach towards strike action will endear him to the Tory Party and perhaps the public.

What I was wondering. Are they premature in escalating, or are the other side late in making their proposals? Or does the current legislation covering industrial action have the presumably unintended consequence of removing  leeway in negotiations in favour of a rigid timetable?

I think there is something in that - he's facing Union Leaders who are almost as boneheaded as those faced by Mrs Thatcher and we all know how that one panned out.

The Unions will follow fully the ballot process and notice of action as laid down in Law.
The RMT leadership are not quite a militant as Arthur Scargill and the days of the 1970's 'flying pickets'

Both sides the Union and Rail Exc's company (aka the Government) are in a skirmish both sides are slinging stones at each other; it will come down to brinkmanship possibly as late as Saturday or even Sunday, I cannot see the days of 'beer and sandwiches at No10' returning from Harold Wilson’s first term as Prime Minister