Train drivers will refuse to work time beyond regulation for per week – threatening disruption to providers on the peak of the summer season holidays.

The motion – a part of a long-running dispute over pay – will start from Monday 31 July to Saturday 5 August , the ASLEF union introduced on Monday.

It will have an effect on providers throughout 15 prepare working firms, and marks the fourth week-long ban on time beyond regulation since May.

“We don’t want to take this action. We don’t want people to be inconvenienced, but the blame lies with the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, which refuse to sit down and talk to us, and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%,” ASLEF’s basic secretary Mick Whelan mentioned.

Full list of rail strike dates and services affected

Train firms affected are: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; Cross Country; East Midlands Railway; Greater Anglia; Great Western Railway; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway major line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.

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Mr Whelan mentioned a 4% pay enhance supply on 26 April was “designed not to be accepted” and accused prepare firms and the federal government of being content material to let the dispute “drift on and on”.

“We have not heard a word from the employers since then – not a meeting, not a phone call, not a text message, nor an email – for the last 12 weeks, and we haven’t sat down with the government since January 6,” he mentioned.

“That shows how little the companies and the government care about passengers and staff.”

He added: “We want a fair resolution. That’s why we are taking this action, to try to bring things to a head.”

The transfer comes as prepare driver members of ASLEF launched a week-long time beyond regulation ban starting right now, which the union warned will “seriously” have an effect on providers.

Aslef mentioned prepare firms don’t make use of sufficient drivers, and are depending on them engaged on relaxation days, which the union identified is voluntary.