Greater Anglia warns of more rail strike action in the East of England

A rail union has announced another strike date in the East of England in a dispute over pay, a rail company said.

Train drivers' union Aslef has been calling for a pay rise for its members, the first since April 2019.

It said that as Greater Anglia had "still not made an offer" it has called another day of action on 23 July.

The train operator said "talks will continue" to resolve the dispute, but passengers should expect "widespread disruption" if the strike goes ahead.

Greater Anglia has services between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street and its area also includes Norwich, Colchester, Southend Victoria and Stansted Airport.

The proposed strike would be the third day of action by Aslef's Greater Anglia train drivers.

During the last walk-out, on 2 July, the company could not run more than 90% of its services.

Managing director Jamie Burles said: "We hope this dispute can be resolved and the strike action proposed for 23 July cancelled, but in the meantime we want to give our customers as much notice as possible that there will be disruption if the strike does go ahead."

The operator said it was drawing up timetables in case the action takes place but with drivers on strike it could only "run minimal services on limited routes and between limited hours".

"If there is a strike, our advice to customers will be to avoid travelling on our trains," Mr Burles said.

Announcing the previous strikes, Nigel Gibson, from Aslef, said: "We want a pay rise, for the train drivers who kept people and goods moving during the pandemic, in line with the cost of living, so that we are not, in real terms, worse off."

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