Northern rail workers set to cause chaos with pay strike to hammer 270,000 commuters
THE rail strikes which have caused commuter misery in the south of England are set to spread across the country, it has emerged.
Industrial action is "inevitable" on the Northern rail network which covers a swathe of northern England including commuter services in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and Hull, a union boss warned.
Strikes could also spread to the West Midlands, Merseyside and other lines into London, say industry insiders.
The news comes as another wave of strikes are due to hit rail and air passengers this week.
Talks to avert a 24-hour walkout by members of the RMT and TSSA unions on the London Underground failed at the weekend.
The strike, which started at 6pm today, resulted in the closure of most Tube stations in central London and will hit tomorrow's morning rush hour.
Meanwhile, thousands of BA cabin crew will start a two-day strike on Tuesday, which has forced the airline to cancel up to 48 flights, although passengers who have booked will be put on alternative departures the same day.
Related Stories
The dispute on the rail network centres on the expansion of driver-only trains which would see the driver, rather than a conductor, opening and closing train doors.
On Tuesday the RMT will ballot staff on Arriva Rail North, operator of the Northern network, for strike action in a dispute over pay.
One industry source claimed the objective of the vote was to "soften up" Arriva for the looming "real battle" over driver-only trains.
Micky Thompson, the RMT's chief negotiator on Northern, denied the claims but admitted that the union is on course for a showdown over the trains, reports the Sunday Times.
He said Arriva had told him it is unable to negotiate over the issue because of a "directive" from the Department for Transport, adding that this meant "it's inevitable" that it will end up in an industrial dispute:
"It's regrettable ... unless we sit down and address this correctly in a genuine fashion it's inevitable that it will end up in a trade dispute," he said.
With around 2,500 services carrying 270,000 passengers each day, strikes on Northern would result in almost the same scale of disruption that has been seen on Southern.
Rail industry insiders also fear strikes could spread to Merseyrail.
