Rail Strikes to Hit FA Cup Final and Epsom Derby

Members of the drivers' union Aslef on the picket line at New Street station in Birmingham, England, on May 31, 2023. (Jacob King/PA Media)

Planned train strikes will affect hundreds of thousands of spectators travelling to events on Saturday such as the FA Cup final and the Epsom Derby.

Train drivers’ union Aslef is on strike on Wednesday at 13 train companies, meaning several operators such as Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern, and Thameslink are running no trains.

A passenger looks through the closed Moor Street Station in Birmingham, England, on May 31, 2023. (Jacob King/PA Media)

The Rail, Maritime, and Transport union (RMT) has called a strike for Friday, while Aslef members will walk out again on Saturday, causing major disruption to football fans travelling to London for the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

Saturday’s strike will also affect people travelling to the annual Epsom Derby horse race at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 spectators.

Many fans attending Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour concert at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the England v Ireland cricket match at Lord’s— both in London—will also be affected by the walkout.

Aslef will also start an overtime ban on Thursday, which could cause disruption, especially in and out of London.

Union Denies Targeting Events

Both unions claim the government is preventing the train companies from making an acceptable offer, an allegation the government has denied.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said “there are no negotiations” in the bitter dispute over pay and conditions.

Joining a picket line at Newcastle station on Wednesday, the union boss said: “There are no negotiations since they came out with yet another deal that contained all our ‘red lines.’

“If you spend months in a room, tell people things aren’t acceptable to you, then they produce a deal that contains those things then they are setting the deal up to fail.

“That is a deliberate act on behalf of both the government and the people that we’re dealing with. They do not apparently want a resolution.”

Talking to the BBC, Whelan denied the union had planned the strikes to cause disruptions to major events.

There is not “a day in this country when there’s not a pop concert or something going on,” he said.

‘Disappointment and Frustration’

Hundreds of coaches are being laid on for football fans as no trains will run between Manchester and the capital on the day of the FA Cup final.

Fans travelling by road transport from Manchester are being advised by transport bosses to take specific routes depending on which team they support, in an attempt to minimise congestion.

They are also being urged to use team-specific motorway service areas.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said around 40 percent of trains are running on Aslef strike days, with wide regional variations.

On the RMT strike day on Friday, around 50 percent of normal services will run.

An RDG spokesman said the strikes are causing “disappointment and frustration for tens of thousands of people,” including families who have planned half-term holidays.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “These strikes have been co-ordinated by union leaders to disrupt passengers in a week which will see major events such as the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final, the Epsom Derby and a number of concerts and festivals across the UK.

“Not content with impacting the hundreds of thousands of people who have looked forward to these events all year round, unions are also targeting their own members’ pockets by forcing them to miss out on pay every time they strike.

“The government has facilitated a fair and reasonable pay offer, now union leaders must do the right thing and put this to their members.”

PA Media contributed to this report.