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In what would be the biggest national walkout in 25 years, Aslef members at Chiltern, LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express, Arriva Rail London, Great Western, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains voted for strikes by around 9-1, on turnouts of more than 80 percent. Dates of the proposed walkouts have not yet been announced. Unions must give 14 days’ notice.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We’ve been forced into this position by the companies driven by the Government.

“Many of our members – the men and women who moved key workers and goods around the country during the pandemic – have not had a pay rise since 2019.

“We want an increase in line with the cost of living. It’s not unreasonable to ask your employer to make sure you’re not worse off for three years in a row.”

Last month, separate strike action by 40,000 rail workers hit thousands of passengers when National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) members at 13 train companies and Network Rail walked out in what was the biggest rail strike in 30 years.

Negotiations between the RMT union and rail operators are set to resume this week.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) is also balloting its members at Network Rail and a number of train operators in England for industrial action.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association announced that hundreds of its members at Southeastern have voted for strikes and other forms of industrial action over pay, job security and conditions.

The union has not given dates for any industrial action but will now consider the next steps with workplace reps.

General secretary Manuel Cortes said: “This is a great result for our union and comes hard on the heels of similar votes at a raft of other train operating companies, with results expected from our Network Rail members imminently.

“The results demonstrate that our members are utterly determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions. They are right to do so amid the escalating Tory cost-of-living crisis and with a chaotic government hell bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network while inflation rages.

“It would be unwise for any rail company to ignore the feelings of our membership. We will soon speak to our workplace reps to consider next steps in the forthcoming days.

“If ministers had any sense they would come to the table and sort this out, so we have a fair settlement for workers who were hailed as heroes in the pandemic.”

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