Train drivers at eight rail companies will strike on July 30 in a row over pay, their union Aslef announced.

It comes after a separate 24-hour strike among rail operators and Network Rail was announced for July 27 by the RMT union.

Workers have said any offers of pay increases so far have been a drop in the ocean compared to soaring inflation gripping the country.

Members of the Aslef train drivers’ union at eight companies – Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER; Southeastern, and West Midlands Trains – will strike on Saturday, July 30.

General secretary, Mick Whelan, said workers really don’t want to walk out and that strikes are ‘the result of a failure of negotiation’.

He added: ‘This union, since I was elected GS in 2011, has only ever been on strike, until this year, for a handful of days.

‘We don’t want to inconvenience passengers – not least because our friends and families use public transport, too, and we believe in building trust in the railways in Britain – and we don’t want to lose money by going on strike.

‘But we’ve been forced into this position by the train companies, driven by the Tory government. The drivers at the companies where we are striking have had a real terms pay cut over the last three years – since April 2019.

‘And these companies are offering us nothing, saying their hands have been tied by the government.

‘That means, in real terms, with inflation running ahead at 9%, 10%, and even 11% this year, according to which index you use, that they are being told to take a real terms pay cut. And that is not acceptable.

‘Strike action is, now, the only option available but we are always open to talks if the train companies, or the government, want to talk to us and make a fair and sensible offer.’

Drivers on Greater Anglia will also strike on July 23, and those on Hull Trains will strike on July 16 and 23.

The action is in addition to a planned strike by the RMT union at train companies and Network Rail on July 27 and by TSSA members on Avanti West Cost on the same day.

The RMT held three strikes last month which crippled services across the country.

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