Travel woe in Bradford as train drivers strike and bus services rammed

Train drivers at Northern Trains and the TransPennine Express are striking as part of a rolling programme of action until early next week in a bitter row over pay and conditions.

RealTimeTrains suggests that no Northern services are operating from Bradford Interchange or Bradford Forster Square today. The only rail services in and out of the Interchange today appear to be the Grand Central trains to London Kings Cross.

A recent picture of trains at Bradford Interchange (Image: T&A)

Some bus routes into Bradford are said to be extremely busy due to the knock-on effect of the rail strikes.

One passenger on the 508 Halifax to Leeds service, through Bradford, said: "The bus was absolutely rammed, probably due to the rail strike. Didn’t help themselves by putting a single decker on

“There were no seats left and people were forced to stand up. At one point the driver was forced into refusing letting anymore passengers on - this left a group of schoolchildren stranded at a stop.”

In a further blow for commuters trying to get into Bradford, there was a crash on the M62 near Chain Bar, which caused traffic to build up on the eastbound carriageway.

This morning's issues bring further misery for public transport users in Bradford, adding to the ongoing difficulties brought about by the closure of Bradford Interchange bus station after a concrete fall.

A spokesperson for Northern said: "There will be no Northern services at all on Wednesday 31 January when ASLEF members – most of whom are employed as train drivers – stage their latest walk out.  

"Additional disruption is expected from Monday 29 January to Tuesday 6 February due to action short of strike called by ASLEF and customers are advised to check before they travel as there may be some short notice cancellations to services running on these days. "

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We urge customers to check before they travel during this period of industrial action. 

“We apologise in advance for the significant disruption and inconvenience this will cause our customers. 

"We hope to see a resolution to this issue in the near future and an end to the disruption these strikes cause."  

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has been accused of “playing games” rather than trying to help resolve the long-running train drivers’ dispute.

None of the operators hit by strikes used new regulations aimed at ensuring a minimum level of service during industrial action.

Downing Street said it will consider if they can “strengthen” minimum service level (MSL) rules after train operators opted not to use the new law during strikes.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is something that the rail companies have asked for and we have delivered it for them.

“We believe they should be ready to use the legislation to reduce the impact of rail strikes on passengers, but we are always open to looking at how we can strengthen the rules around MSLs to ensure they deliver for the best interests of passengers.

“That’s something we will continue to look at and of course we will keep discussing with the rail companies themselves.”

Sources told the PA news agency that rail companies had not asked for the regulations amid warnings from unions and opposition politicians that they were unworkable.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “This is a desperate attempt to distract from the Government’s failings.

“Employers from rail to health warned months ago these new laws are unworkable and would escalate industrial tensions.

“The PM should stop playing games and help resolve this dispute.”

A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, said: “Minimum Service Level legislation is one of many useful tools for managing strike disruption, but it is not a silver bullet.

“Operators’ guiding principle is always to make sure they can offer the best, most reliable services possible for their passengers on and around industrial action days, and to do that they need to make careful assessments of their own particular operational circumstances before deciding the best way forward.”

Meanwhile, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) announced a strike by London Overground workers in a separate dispute over pay.

More than 300 union members will walk out for 48 hours on February 19 and again on March 4.

Security, station, revenue and control staff are among those taking industrial action.

Rail services are already being affected by a nine-day ban on overtime by Aslef members, which started on Monday.

On Tuesday, drivers went on strike at Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink and South Western Railway followed by walkouts at Northern Trains and TPE on Wednesday, at LNER, Greater Anglia and C2C on Friday, at West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway on February 3 and at Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern on February 5.

Aslef says it has not met with Transport Secretary Mark Harper for more than a year despite a series of strikes which have caused travel misery and cost industries such as hospitality tens of millions of pounds in lost business.

A Department of Transport spokesperson said on Monday: “Aslef’s leadership is refusing to let their members vote on an offer that would see the average train driver’s salary increase to £65,000.

“The Transport Secretary and Rail Minister have already facilitated talks that led to this fair and reasonable offer from industry – Aslef bosses should put it to their members so we can resolve the dispute, which has already happened with the RMT, TSSA and Unite unions.

“With passenger revenues not having recovered since the pandemic, the taxpayer has had to prop up the railways with £12 billion in the past year alone – these strikes will not change the need for urgent workplace reforms that Aslef continue to block.”

It is understood that rail industry sources do not recognise the idea that the Government was asked to bring forward these new laws.

But the rail industry did engage throughout the process of the legislation being drafted.