National Express Experiences Rail Strike
Commuters amounting in the hundreds of thousands were interrupted today as National Express East Anglia, one of the busiest rail routes in Britain, experienced a rail strike. This strike left the route with only a few hourly services due to a dispute over pay between the unions and rail operator, which caused a chaotic journey to work for many commuters.
Passengers were forced to stay at home or take a bus, tube or car into work while National Express East Anglia reduced its hourly services. The franchise carries about 2 million people per week from Norwich, Colchester, and Southend to London Liverpool Street in the Square Mile financial district. Tourists were also affected by the rail strike, as the route from Stansted Airport to London was reduced to only one train per hour, running only 100 trains rather than 1,800 services.
Andrew Chivers, the franchise managing director, apologized to the passengers who were stranded in commuter towns like Colchester, Chelmsford, and Braintree. He said that they are very disappointed that the RMT and Aslef unions called the industrial action over the dispute about salary, even though they have offered the unions an increase in salary above the inflation rate during negotiations. Chivers added that the strike is unnecessary, not the solution, and he would like to like to apologize to National Express’s customers.
National Express has warned that they would only able to run limited services, while there will be no replacement buses available. Another three strikes are set to be held next month, which are to be 48-hour strikes like this one.