May 12th - Here's what you can do about the train strikes this weekend
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2023
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The latest round of rail strikes has begun, bringing 48 hours of misery for train passengers. It is especially aggravating for people hoping to travel to Liverpool for Eurovision. But dare I say it? There are a number of alternatives to rail travel for reaching Merseyside.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder. It is Friday the 12th of May, which means that it's yet another rail strike day. |
| 0:12.7 | And the first national rail strikes, of course, since the 1980s began last June. And to be fair, I think for almost a a year a rail ticket has felt a bit like a lottery |
| 0:24.6 | ticket and the last thing that anybody needs is 48 hours of rail chaos that's exactly what we've got |
| 0:32.8 | but it is particularly painful for people who are trying to reach Liverpool for Eurovision. |
| 0:39.9 | Now, I will just give you my take on the strikes because I've been covering them for almost a year, |
| 0:46.1 | talking of course to all the sides involved, which are basically Mick Wheelan of Aslef, |
| 0:51.5 | the train drivers union who are on strike today, |
| 0:58.4 | Mick Lynch of the RMT who are on strike tomorrow, |
| 1:03.5 | the train operators represented by the rail delivery group, and rail ministers plus the transport secretary Mark Harper. |
| 1:09.5 | All of them, I believe, well-intentioned, all of them really wanting |
| 1:17.4 | the best for the railway, and yet all of them failing to come up with a settlement, and the two |
| 1:24.2 | sides, unfortunately, feel as far apart as ever. |
| 1:29.9 | And it's going to cause a lot of problems. |
| 1:34.0 | But, and here's where things might turn a little bit controversial. |
| 1:35.9 | As always, I welcome your feedback. |
| 1:49.2 | I think some of the people that I've noted in the media today who've been talking about Eurovision have um well a cynical person would say lost the plot a kinder person would say need some encouragement to think a bit more laterally about |
| 1:57.0 | transport and here they are so there is the Shadow Secretary of State for Health. |
| 2:03.0 | That is where streaking, of course. And he told Sky News, I wanted to be at the Eurovision final |
| 2:10.2 | on Saturday, but I'll get over it. Just a reminder that tomorrow, the RMT are on strike. |
| 2:16.1 | Actually, it is perfectly possible to get to Liverpool the last |
| 2:21.4 | train would have gone anyway by the because of anti west coast of running services the last train |
| 2:27.7 | would have gone before the festivities are over so you'd need to find somewhere to stay or you |
... |
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