Rail passengers are to face more disruption this weekend, with a strike on the day of the FA Cup Final, Saturday June 3 by Aslef members.

The union’s members took part in strike action on May 31, after failing to reach an agreement on pay and conditions with rail bosses last month, ending hopes that the dispute was close to being resolved.

And, earlier this month, the RMT union voted in favour of holding more walkouts over the next six months. Its members held a strike on Friday June 2.

As well as the Cup Final, the strikes will affect services for events such as Beyoncé’s upcoming tour and the Lord’s cricket Test match in London.

However, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association union members working on the Elizabeth line have suspended a strike planned for May 24 after Rail for London Infrastructure tabled a revised pay proposal.

Here are the details of the upcoming industrial action.

When are the next train strikes?

Below are the dates for this weekend’s UK train strikes.

• Friday June 2 (RMT)

• Saturday June 3 FA Cup Final day (Aslef)

Aslef

Train drivers’ union Aslef said it would be calling its members out on strike on Saturday June 3. This follows earlier strikes on Wednesday May 31.

The strike could cause chaos on the FA Cup Final day when thousands of fans of Manchester City and Manchester United are due to head to Wembley Stadium.

The June 3 strikes will affect the Beyoncé concert at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and cricket fans heading to the England v Ireland Test match at Lord’s.

RMT

RMT members staged a strike on June 2 in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.

This coincided with the eve of the FA Cup Final.

Which train companies will be affected?

The operators affected by the RMT union’s dispute on June 2 were:

• Chiltern Railways

• Cross Country Trains

• Greater Anglia

• LNER

• East Midlands Railway

• c2c

• Great Western Railway

• Northern Trains

• South Eastern

• South Western Railway

• Transpennine Express

• Avanti West Coast

• West Midlands Trains

• Govia Thameslink Railway (including Gatwick Express)

The train companies set to be affected by the Aslef strikes on 3 June are:

• Avanti West Coast

• Chiltern Railways

• CrossCountry

• East Midlands Railway

• Great Western Railway

• Greater Anglia

• Great Northern Railway

• London North Eastern Railway

• Northern Trains

• Southeastern

• Southern/Gatwick Express

• South Western Railway depot drivers

• SWR Island Line

• TransPennine Express

• West Midlands Trains

Why are rail staff striking?

Many had believed that the talks between unions and the government would result in the end of strikes, and an agreement would be reached after almost a year of disputes.

However, Aslef said it has sent its negotiating team to meet the different representatives of the train firms on eight occasions since February to try to resolve the dispute quickly with minimal distress, but that it had not got very far.

There have been eight rail strikes since last July. The most recent Aslef walkout was on May 12.

A pay rise has been offered by the union but Aslef said that it is “risible” and announced the walkouts and further action involving a work to rule.

The last pay offer, which was made on behalf of the Rail Delivery Group, was worth four per cent.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan hailed this as “unacceptable at a time inflation is above 10 per cent” and said that it was a further kick in the teeth as train drivers had not had a pay rise since 2019.

He said: “We are also withdrawing non-contractual overtime from Monday May 15 to Saturday May 20 inclusive, as well as on Saturday May 13 and Thursday June 1.”

What have rail bosses said?

Rail bosses have hit out at the announcement, calling the idea senseless and asking the union to reconsider its position.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said earlier: “This is disappointing news for our customers and staff, more strike action is totally unnecessary and will only heap more pressure on an industry already facing an acute financial crisis. Senselessly targeting the FA Cup Final is disappointing for all those planning to attend.

“After many weeks of negotiations with the Aslef leadership, we made a revised and fair offer including a pay rise of eight per cent over two years. It would have introduced overdue, common-sense improvements already in place in parts of the network, which would will see more trains running on time for passengers. Sadly, this has been rejected.

“We urge the Aslef leadership to re-join us at the negotiating table and work with us to find a solution to the issues our industry faces and so we can give our people the pay rise we have always said we wanted to do.”