Rail: where are we with the strikes and what happens next?
Since national rail strikes began in the summer of 2022, hundreds of millions of journeys have been cancelled. Billions of pounds have been lost to the UK economy, particularly hospitality businesses – and taxpayers are subsidising an increasingly decrepit and unreliable railway to the tune of £90 per second on top of the normal subsidy.
After the latest round of industrial action by train drivers belonging to the Aslef union, the only certainty is that more walk-outs will follow.
Over the past 19 months of strikes, there has been zero progress in the dispute between Aslef and the 14 rail firms controlled by the UK government and represented by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).
In a snap social media poll for The Independent, with 2,142 responses, one in three passengers say they will permanently travel less after the industrial action finally ends.
Meanwhile other strikes are happening intermittently, with London Overground workers preparing to walk out. The RMT has called two 48-hour strikes in February and March on the capital commuter network
These are the key questions and answers.
