Speaking on Thursday, chairman Steve Montgomery said the RDG was "working up to" making an offer once it had made an agreement with unions on workplace reforms. 2023 BBC. He told BBC business correspondent Katy Austin that while body shell cracking would not "cause the trains to crash or disintegrate or anything like that", he said it is a "serious point" that requires action because if metal fatiguing is allowed to continue, the "cracks will spread, and the body shell strength will be weakened". At the UK busiest station, Waterloo, 76% of trains arrived on time; Victoria had 72% arrive on time, London Bridge had 62%, Liverpool Street had 86% and Clapham Junction 60%. Network Rail said it's repairing the line after a fire on the route between Peterborough and London King's Cross. The trains have either been cancelled completely or terminated at Birmingham. "It's a slap in the face," said Gabe, a registered Democrat who voted for Mr Biden in 2020 and is part of Railroad Workers United, an informal group that raised concerns over the issue. "It shouldn't be because you live in a state that's more pro-business than another state that you lose paid sick leave.". In 2022, 40% of scheduled rail and Underground services in London were either . What happened in the Ukraine helicopter crash? When dogs in Alaska wait for the bus Video, German police deny Greta's detainment was staged, Iran man who beheaded wife jailed for eight years, Germany: We are no longer reliant on Russian energy, Mafia boss's second hideout found behind wardrobe, City asks Madonna if it can borrow her painting, Jeremy Renner TV show poster edited after accident, Santos denies taking money from dying dog GoFundMe, Keep cake away from office, says food adviser. In Scotland, ScotRail reported more than a hundred cancellations on Monday. It is advising passengers to travel as early as possible. There is expected to be a major impact across the network, with only a fifth of services due to run between 07:30 and 18:30 GMT on Saturday. South Western Railway said it had only seen a small number of alterations this week, but was closely monitoring the impact of the new Omicron variant on staff availability. The company said cracks were detected on "more than one" Hitachi 800 train, so all 93 in its fleet are being inspected as a "precaution". When taken with on-the-day cancellations, this has seen total. "We're working hard to be able to operate as many services as possible, but advise customers to check National Rail Enquiries prior to travel for the latest information on their service.". While he said he believed people should be able to take time off if sick, "the one-size-fits-all approach does not work on issues, especially on paid leave". "I found that devastating," she said, adding that a national law now looks "impossible". Another passenger described the Nottingham to Cardiff service as "shocking". 2023 BBC. The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators across the UK, said its members had reported that 8.7% of their staff were off sick due to all causes including Covid. In a statement Tricia Williams, chief operating officer of Northern, apologised for disruption, putting it down to factors "including fully-trained driver availability and the on-going industrial relations issues with the trade unions". When trains are running, Ms Blackburn said they are often crowded and strikes have added extra stress and expense. 21:17, 14 JAN 2023 Full list of new series on ITV, BBC and Channel 4 this week (Image: Shared Content Unit) Telly lovers are in for a treat this week as a number of popular programmes return with. Rail services between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton have been hit by major disruption. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Tom and Lydia Ellis, who are from New Zealand but living in Bristol, will have to take a bus to get to the game. In 2020, Congress passed a temporary law requiring most companies to offer two weeks of paid sick leave to staff forced to quarantine due to Covid-19. "It's clearly an area where we need federal protections," said Jennifer Pomeranz, a professor of public health at New York University, who has tracked the issue. 2023 BBC. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Read about our approach to external linking. Who was Ukrainian minister Denys Monastyrsky? "At least four times this year. VideoChess gets a risqu makeover, The Nigerian influencers paid to manipulate your vote, How a baffling census delay is hurting Indians, How Mafia boss was caught at a clinic after 30 years. Mr Lynch previously told the BBC that he expected workers to vote in favour, and warned that there could be strikes for another six months if no agreement is reached. What happened in the Ukraine helicopter crash? Northern, which runs services across the North of England, is also warning that passenger services are being affected by the impacts of Covid and unavailability of train crew. It comes after Tuesday's record-breaking temperatures above 40C, which caused damage to overhead electric lines and railway tracks. South Western Railway said it had only seen a small number of alterations this week, but was closely monitoring the impact of the new Omicron variant on staff availability. 16 January 2023, 06:06 GMT. ORR recently said Network Rail, which oversees tracks, power lines and signals, needed to do more to deliver better performance. He said: "If you get a welding torch up against the [electronics] it can fry [them] so the first thing you have to do is take all the electronics out, disconnect all the electrical equipment, that takes a day or two, then you do the repair, then you have to put it all back again.". In recent weeks, demands for paid sick leave from rail workers like Gabe pushed the US to the brink of its first national rail strike in 30 years. LNER is one of the train companies forced to cancel services, When dogs in Alaska wait for the bus Video, ScotRail reported more than a hundred cancellations, German police deny Greta's detainment was staged, Santos denies taking money from dying dog GoFundMe, Iran man who beheaded wife jailed for eight years, Mafia boss's second hideout found behind wardrobe, Maximum two drinks a week, Canada guidance advises, US town with no water using rain to flush toilets, Celebrities who say their children will get no inheritance, Heathrow beefs up security over cannabis arrests. 'One by one they have all been testing positive', ScotRail cancels 118 services as Covid spikes, Zelensky says fatal crash was consequence of war, New Zealand PM Ardern to step down next month, Arizona town with no water using rain to flush toilets. She said the operator had a plan in place to make improvements, and was working with Network Rail to improve reliability. Chris Heaton-Harris said the issue had been found on part of the chassis - the base frame - of some trains on Saturday morning following routine inspections. The government said it must "drastically improve". Read about our approach to external linking. BBC News A train drivers' union has blamed an operating company for repeated rail cancellations, saying it does not employ enough staff. Passengers will be hoping this change ushers in more reliability. Passengers are being warned of extensive disruption to train services on Saturday despite a series of strikes by railway workers being called off. A spokesman added that the issue is affecting long-distance journeys between cities, which are being refunded, but that suburban and rural GWR services are still running as normal. In the past week 5.2% of trains were cancelled, versus an average of 2.9%, according to the Rail Delivery Group. The 48-hour strike is the first of two . 2023 BBC. A spokesperson for Aslef said in relation to CrossCountry: "I'm afraid they don't really employ enough drivers to deliver the services they promise passengers they will run. CrossCountry has apologised for its cancellations over. GTR also noted issues at other train companies could have a knock-on effect. Who was Ukrainian minister Denys Monastyrsky? Read about our approach to external linking. VideoChess gets a risqu makeover, The Nigerian influencers paid to manipulate your vote, How a baffling census delay is hurting Indians, How Mafia boss was caught at a clinic after 30 years. Are you a passenger who was due to travel on one of the affected trains? VideoChess gets a risqu makeover, The Nigerian influencers paid to manipulate your vote, How a baffling census delay is hurting Indians, How Mafia boss was caught at a clinic after 30 years. Network Rail continues to advise passengers to check before they travel, and to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on Saturday and Monday. It said that when the works were completed later this year, this should "vastly improve the reliability of service for customers on both the London Overground and the Bakerloo line". He added that calling off the latest ones has given negotiations between unions and employers a "better chance of success". Mr Wolmar believes these contracts have resulted in less effort from managers to run a good service, and high sickness levels among staff who have gone over two years without a pay rise, are "really an expression of employee dissatisfaction". The 2012 Great Britain and Ireland floods were a series of weather events that affected parts of Great Britain and Ireland periodically during the course of 2012 and on through the winter into 2013. It is offering customers refunds or fee-free re-booking. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It said there could be short-notice cancellations. VideoChess gets a risqu makeover, The Nigerian influencers paid to manipulate your vote. They involved staff at Network Rail, which employs signalling workers across England, Scotland and Wales, as well as workers at 14 train companies. Mr Montgomery's explanation was that Covid directly caused a backlog of driver training, which can take up to 18 months, and staff sickness levels are high. Avanti West Coast, which operates trains between London and Birmingham, Manchester, North Wales and Scotland, had the highest proportion of cancellations, at 8%. Network Rail warned that services. It said it was working as "quickly and safely as possible" to investigate the issue with the remainder of the fleets. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk, Government needs proper pay strategy to end healthcare strikes, says ex-NHS CEO, Crowds gather to see rapper Clavish at Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre, 'Violent disorder' at Sutton Coldfield College sees four teen arrests, Police increase patrols after schoolboy, 13, hurt in knife attack near Grand Central, Dudley issues renewed call for sites for development, WATCH: Motorists drive wrong way on Bassano Road, Blackheath, Zelensky says fatal crash was consequence of war, New Zealand PM Ardern to step down next month, Mass strikes in France bid to halt pension age rise. Author and rail historian Christian Wolmar says despite a stronger "general feeling of rail malaise" in the north of England, with trains statistically worse performing, often the impact of disruption in the capital was greater. Sense of injustice lingers after Seoul Halloween crush, Chess gets a risqu makeover. When dogs in Alaska wait for the bus Video, Iran man who beheaded wife jailed for eight years, German police deny Greta's detainment was staged, Jeremy Renner TV show poster edited after accident, Keep cake away from office, says food adviser, Santos denies taking money from dying dog GoFundMe, City asks Madonna if it can borrow her painting, Germany: We are no longer reliant on Russian energy, Mafia boss's second hideout found behind wardrobe. Read about our approach to external linking. What happened in the Ukraine helicopter crash? In October, Avanti's contract was extended for only six months. Great Western Railway said it was seeing increasing absence rates, and some disruption of its services. "It's important to point out that the affected trains are relatively new, in which case the manufacturers should foot the bill for any repairs, not passengers or taxpayers.". Monday 16 January 2023. "He's trying to keep away from people and so is a bit loathe to seek help from staff in person. "You don't realise how much you rely on something until you don't have it.". ': ' , 2002 West Midlands Railway has also said fewer trains are running. Same in the opposite direction. Who was Ukrainian minister Denys Monastyrsky? "Here Biden is supposed to be this super pro-labour president and Amtrak Joe and everything like that," he said, referring to a nickname given to the president for his fondness of riding the national passenger rail. Emilia Fox returned. Rail strike is cancelled - at the cost of paid sick leave 3 December 2022 Getty Images Rail workers are disappointed after their push for paid sick leave failed By Natalie Sherman Business. London North Eastern railway confirmed that after earlier cancellations, services began to operate to and from London King's Cross from midday, but it said trains will be "extremely busy". Tim Shoveller, Network Rail's chief negotiator, said the company is looking forward to "getting back round the table with all our trades unions early next week to see if the progress made this week can be built on, and a resolution found". Sherry Leiwant, co-founder of A Better Balance, who has been working on paid sick leave campaigns since the early 2000s, called the decision not to extend the benefit in 2020 "the most disheartening thing that has happened in my work on this issue". He said: "London is the most rail-dependent city in the country and, while it has seen the most rail improvements in last 10 years, residents suffer disproportionately when things go wrong.". However, the suspension is a significant development, as it is the first time in the RMT's long-running dispute that a strike has been called off to make further talks easier. TransPennine has also come under the spotlight for poor services, although it insists cancellation numbers have been reducing. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Overall, passenger numbers are now back up to 80% of the observed usage three years ago but, as rail users return, performance has slipped at many stations. Avanti West Coast is another operator experiencing staff shortages and warning of short-notice cancellations. For a moment, during the pandemic, it seemed like a national policy might emerge. But that expired at the end of the year and firms quickly trimmed the benefits. Like roughly 30 million other Americans, the 45-year-old railroad worker doesn't have any paid sick leave and he didn't want to get punished for taking time off. But the operator added that it expected services to be "extremely busy" and could not guarantee that social distancing guidelines would be adhered to. Read about our approach to external linking. 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