Train drivers will refuse to work overtime for a week – threatening disruption to services at the height of the summer holidays.

The action – part of a long-running dispute over pay – will begin from Monday 31 July to Saturday 5 August , the ASLEF union announced on Monday.

It will affect services across 15 train operating companies, and marks the fourth week-long ban on overtime since May.

“We don’t want to take this action. We don’t want people to be inconvenienced, but the blame lies with the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, which refuse to sit down and talk to us, and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%,” ASLEF’s general secretary Mick Whelan said.

Full list of rail strike dates and services affected

Train companies affected are: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; Cross Country; East Midlands Railway; Greater Anglia; Great Western Railway; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway main line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.

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Mr Whelan said a 4% pay increase offer on 26 April was “designed not to be accepted” and accused train companies and the government of being content to let the dispute “drift on and on”.

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“We have not heard a word from the employers since then – not a meeting, not a phone call, not a text message, nor an email – for the last 12 weeks, and we haven’t sat down with the government since January 6,” he said.

“That shows how little the companies and the government care about passengers and staff.”

He added: “We want a fair resolution. That’s why we are taking this action, to try to bring things to a head.”

The move comes as train driver members of ASLEF launched a week-long overtime ban beginning today, which the union warned will “seriously” affect services.

Aslef said train companies do not employ enough drivers, and are dependent on them working on rest days, which the union pointed out is voluntary.

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