West Midlands Trains reaches agreement with RMT union

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Thursday, 5 December 2019

West Midlands Trains reaches agreement with RMT union

After several weeks of negotiation, West Midlands Trains and the RMT union have formulated a settlement agreement covering the role of conductors on the new trains. This will now be subject to a workforce referendum, and in the mean time, the remaining strikes have been suspended.

A West Midlands Trains’ spokesperson said “ Both sides have worked hard on our shared vision to keep a conductor on every passenger train with safety critical duties.”

This outcome means this Saturday’s strike has been called off. However the agreement has come too late to withdraw Saturday’s amended timetable . Passengers are being advised to check before they travel on Saturday

Ends

About West Midlands Trains

For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email [email protected]

West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.

  • London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.
  • West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.

For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk

The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.

West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.

The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com

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