Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, said:"We would much rather not be in this position. We don't want to go on strike - withdrawing your labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for this trade union - but the train companies have been determined to force our hand.
"They are telling train drivers to take a real-terms pay cut. With inflation now running at 12.3% - and set, it is said, to go higher - these companies are saying that drivers should be prepared to work just as hard, for just as long, but for considerably less. "The companies with whom we are in dispute have not offered us a penny. It is outrageous that they expect us to put up with a real-terms pay cut for a third year in a row."
In addition to the travel disruption facing the Tory conference, the prospect of taking a train to Labour's annual get together - in Liverpool this year - is also filled with uncertainty. Continuing staff shortages at Avanti West Coast have forced the under-fire operator to slash schedules, and timetables will not be published until a few days before the start of the event.