Monday train strike won’t hit Welshpool

Train drivers have decided that £39,117 is not a big enough salary and will go on strike Monday, but it won’t affect Welshpool.

The industrial action means that no Valleys Lines services will run, but other lines on Arriva Trains Wales are expected to operate as normal.

Arriva Trains Wales have apologised for the south Wales disruptions and said drivers had been offered a pay increase of 12% taking their basic pay from £34,824 to £39,117 in two stages. The offer also changed the obligation to work on Sundays from a voluntary to contractual basis, said the train operator.

But Bob Crow, general secretary of The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said 85% of members backed the industrial action and described Arriva Trains Wales pay offer as “paltry”.

“Our members would have ended up with inferior working conditions for a de facto pay cut,” he said.