East Midlands Railway workers to strike in safety dispute
They are set to walk out later in August and mid-way through September
Workers at East Midlands Railway (EMR) are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over safety.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out for 48 hours from Sunday August 30 and for 24 hours on September 16.
Union members are continuing to take action short of strike including refusing to work on Class 810 trains over claims of faults.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “RMT is demanding that whilst these faults exist and until these trains are shown to be operating properly, they should be taken out of service.
“It is now time for EMR management to act on the safety concerns of our members.”
The company said no safety critical faults have been identified.
It said: “EMR is currently assessing the impact of this industrial action on its services and will publish details of the services it will operate on its Intercity and Connect routes on the affected days as soon as possible.
“EMR regional services will not be affected by the strike action.
“EMR recognises the significant disruption this will cause to customers’ plans over the August bank holiday and understands how frustrating this news will be for its customers, particularly following the three Saturdays targeted by RMT strikes earlier this month.
“EMR continues to have constructive discussions with the RMT and has met with the union six times as it works towards resolving the issues at the heart of this dispute.
“At the same time, EMR is working closely with Hitachi Rail to ensure that concerns are being properly addressed.”
Philippa Cresswell, customer experience director at East Midlands Railway, said: “We understand how important it is for our customers to have certainty about their travel plans and recognise the uncertainty and disruption this strike action will cause, particularly over the August bank holiday.
“Our teams are currently working through the detail of our service plan and assessing what services we will be able to operate on the affected days.
“We will share further information with our customers as soon as it is available and continue to provide updates through our website, stations and social media channels.”