Avanti West Coast train managers are to stage strikes from the end of December until May next year, after 83 per cent of those voting in an RMT referendum rejected the operator’s latest offer. Strikes which had previously been called for 22, 23 and 29 December had been suspended while the ballot was held.

The charity Campaign for Better Transport has welcomed the Government’s plans to devolve more responsibility for train services to the English regions, saying devolution has already worked well in London and Liverpool. The plans have been unveiled in a White Paper.

Rail passengers who have been charged a penalty fare or prosecuted for not having the correct ticket are being asked to tell the rail regulator what happened. The Office of Rail and Road is asking passengers to complete a short questionnaire as part of its investigation into how operators deal with suspected cases of fare evasion.

Planned walkouts by around 300 RMT staff on Avanti West Coast which could have seriously disrupted services over the Christmas and New Year holiday have been suspended, after the employers made a new offer.

The number of people employed in the administration of DfT Operator, which runs nationalised passenger operators, is set to rise from 25 to 100 by the end of the coming year. Alex Hynes, the director-general at DfT Rail Services Group, told MPs on the Commons Transport Committee that DfT Operator would be increasing in size to deal with the growing workload caused by the nationalisation of three more former franchises during 2025.

Train managers on Avanti West Coast who belong to the RMT are set to strike on three days over the Christmas period, in a dispute over rest day working. The union said the company’s proposals had been ‘inadequate’, and that staff had rejected them in a vote by 92.8 per cent, on a turnout of 81 per cent.

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