Sunday 14 August 2022 10:25 PM Train drivers on line crippled by unofficial 'strikes' are paid £80,000 as ... trends now
Train drivers on a major line being crippled by 'unofficial strike action' on average earn about £80,000 a year, it emerged yesterday.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps branded union barons 'incredibly greedy' for allegedly orchestrating the unofficial action while demanding more money for drivers.
The average drivers' salary across the country is £60,000.
As few as four trains an hour started running on the West Coast Main Line, which connects London with the North and Scotland, under an emergency timetable yesterday.
Operator Avanti West Coast normally runs up to seven an hour.
London to Manchester is the worst affected route, with services reduced from three an hour to one.
The reduced timetable will run 'until further notice'.
The Labour mayors of London, Manchester and Liverpool have blamed Avanti bosses for a failure 'to manage rostering and rest day working' of staff. But Mr Shapps said this is 'misleading and wrong' and pointed to figures showing overtime and rest days being worked plunged 90 per cent.
The drop came amid drivers' union Aslef balloting members on industrial action in a row over pay.
Striking train drivers picket Paddington station on August 13, 2022 in London, England
A striking train driver shows a captioned t-shirt as he pickets Euston station on August 13, 2022 in London, England. The daylong strike by train drivers represented by the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) was one of three such actions scheduled for August in the UK
As few as four trains an hour started running on the West Coast Main Line, which connects London with the North and Scotland, under an emergency timetable yesterday. Operator Avanti
