Avanti West Coast made a surprise offer to ASLEF in mid-March for a new rest-day working (RDW) agreement, in a bid to reduce cancellations and provide capacity for driver training on its 13 new Class 805 Hitachi electric multiple units.
In a move agreed with the Department for Transport, drivers would be paid £600 per rest day, in addition to their normal baseline salary. AWC says it is “similar” to RDW agreements at other operators.
Previously, drivers were paid £125 per rest day shift plus an hourly rate. This totalled £421- £495 depending on whether a driver worked an eight- or ten-hour shift.
The 12-month deal was due to start on Thursday March 28 (after this issue of RAIL went to press) and run until March 29 2025.
Rollout of the ‘805’ fleet requires 2,500 training days, with each driver away from passenger services for around two weeks at a time.
Until now, AWC had been cancelling passenger trains to release drivers for training. Since the agreement was signed, AWC has seen drivers making themselves available for overtime, and cancellations “fall dramatically”.
On Saturday March 23, the cancellations were down to two, compared with much higher numbers in recent weeks. On March 25, AWC had just two part-cancellations, due to a shortage of drivers.
“We are pleased to reach a new agreement on rest day working, as other ope
