The Department of Transport (DfT) says that employers can only negotiate easily with “clear government guidance on the modernization to be achieved”. The financial parameters are clearly set by the Government, which RMT leader Mick Lynch called “Grant Shapps fingerprints and Rishi Sunak’s DNA”.

Industry has been told, directly or otherwise, that wage increases can only come with “productivity gains”. With more and more of the industry officially on the Treasury balance sheet, the railway is a public sector employer or less. During Covid’s, train operators were relieved of franchises that would cause them hardship and be placed on new contracts when revenue, or scarcity, is a matter of concern to the government. The pay rise across all train operating companies is being negotiated nationally.
Network Rail, meanwhile, has said it is not receiving any increase in its £ 41.7bn five-year budget. Chief Executive Andrew Haines has said that any pay rise must come from cost savings and productivity – a position that is in line with the Exchequer’s message elsewhere in the public sector. He said it could go above 3% – but also said there were no productivity gains that would allow it to rise anywhere near RPI inflation, a normal rail benchmark, running at 11.1%.
Yes, to some extent. The productivity gain of one firm is the ruined weekend of another employee. It involves flexible operation and rosters. Rest work is being focused on train companies, where volunteering has traditionally been on Sundays and paid at overtime rates.

At Transport for London (TfL), a review of the pension scheme has been ordered as part of the emergency funding agreement. The London Underground is also looking to cut 10% of its frontline staff, arguing that employees can only negatively impact their workload and well-being.