Passengers travelling between London and Edinburgh face months of disruption after LNER drivers announced 22 days of strike action from the start of September to early November.
Aslef, the train driver’s union, said its members working for LNER would take strike action every weekend between just after midnight on 1 September and 10 November after what it calls a complete “breakdown industrial relations, bullying by management, and persistent breaking of agreements by the company”.
The action will cause widespread disruption to passenger services on the east coast mainline, which is also the key route between London and cities including Leeds, York and Newcastle.
The union has emphasised that this strike action is unrelated to its long running national dispute involving 16 train companies, which could soon be resolved if its members accept a new pay deal agreed between the government and Aslef bosses earlier this week.
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However, it will cause a headache for the new Labour government, with LNER now run by the Department for Transport as an operator of last resort. The government took over the line after Virgin Trains East Coast, 90% owned by Stagecoach, ended its loss-making contract.
The union has committed to 22 days of action, with each strike starting just after midnight on Saturday and ending just before midnight on Sunday.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “The continued failure of the company to resolve longstanding industrial relations issues has forced us into this position. We would much rather not be here. But the company has brutally, and repeatedly, broken diagramming and roster agreements, failed to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery, and totally acted in bad faith.”
The Guardian has contacted LNER for comment.