Parts of Britain face delays as train guards strike over safety
2 June 2005
LONDON (AP) - Train passengers traveling between London and parts of northern England face delays Friday when guards stage a 24-hour strike in a long-running dispute over rail safety.
About 150 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union will walk out at midnight Thursday in the second of a series of four stoppages scheduled for Fridays on services run by Midland Mainline.
The union argues that there should be several guards on each train instead of just one, which Midland Mainline says is sufficient.
"The company is well aware that one guard cannot possibly cover the whole of a multiple unit train because there is no access between units," said general secretary Bob Crow.
"After last Friday's successful stoppage we hoped that Midland Mainline would remove their heads from the sand and talk, but our calls have once more fallen on deaf ears, and strike action is the only weapon we have left.
Midland Mainline, which operates services from London to Leicester, Leeds, York and other northern destinations, said the action would force alterations to services, and apologized to passengers for the expected disruptions.
2 June 2005
LONDON (AP) - Train passengers traveling between London and parts of northern England face delays Friday when guards stage a 24-hour strike in a long-running dispute over rail safety.
About 150 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union will walk out at midnight Thursday in the second of a series of four stoppages scheduled for Fridays on services run by Midland Mainline.
The union argues that there should be several guards on each train instead of just one, which Midland Mainline says is sufficient.
"The company is well aware that one guard cannot possibly cover the whole of a multiple unit train because there is no access between units," said general secretary Bob Crow.
"After last Friday's successful stoppage we hoped that Midland Mainline would remove their heads from the sand and talk, but our calls have once more fallen on deaf ears, and strike action is the only weapon we have left.
Midland Mainline, which operates services from London to Leicester, Leeds, York and other northern destinations, said the action would force alterations to services, and apologized to passengers for the expected disruptions.