Chiltern Railways: RMT train managers' 24-hour strike on Thursday 12 November 2026 (London Marylebone–Birmingham, Oxford and Aylesbury routes) over driver-only operation

RMT members working as train managers at Chiltern Railways will strike for 24 hours on Thursday 12 November 2026, the third strike day in their dispute over driver-only operation on the East West Rail services Chiltern is due to run between Oxford and Milton Keynes. The union announced the date on 5 November, after the Saturday strikes of 10 and 17 October; picket lines are planned at Birmingham Moor Street, Stourbridge Junction and Banbury.

What to expect: Chiltern runs between London Marylebone and Birmingham, Oxford, Banbury, Aylesbury and High Wycombe. On the two October strike days the company ran the vast majority of its services, with gaps on a few long-distance and branch routes; it has not yet published its plan for 12 November, a weekday, and will do so on its website and National Rail in the days before. Drivers (ASLEF) are not in dispute.

Why: the RMT says Chiltern refuses to guarantee the safety-critical role of a second person on board the East West Rail trains, which threatens passenger safety and existing train manager jobs; the Department for Transport says the driver-only model has operated on most of Chiltern's network for decades and that train managers' roles, terms and staffing levels will not change.