CrossCountry train drivers reject above-inflation pay offer in row over e-payslips and phone medicals

Train drivers on Britain’s worst-performing rail line have rejected an above-inflation pay rise in a stand-off over productivity measures including scrapping paper payslips, The Times reported.

Bosses at CrossCountry — which runs long-distance services from Edinburgh to Penzance and Cardiff to Stansted — are in a stand-off with the Aslef drivers’ union over a new pay deal. Drivers were offered a 3.6 per cent increase, backdated to May, in return for three productivity measures: switching to e-payslips, voluntary occupational-health referral medicals conducted over the phone, and bringing the reference point for future negotiations forward to February. Inflation stood at 2.8 per cent in the 12 months to May, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The union said the conditions were submitted to leaders in writing rather than put forward during negotiations, and that a no-strings-attached 3 per cent option was also proposed. The government has yet to sign off the pay proposals; a government source said: “We’re not in the business of handing out above-inflation pay rises without benefits to passengers. This isn’t money for nothing.”

Aslef told CrossCountry the 2026 pay offer was “not acceptable”, warning that a failure to agree a deal during October “may bring the company into dispute with Aslef”. A union spokesman said: “It’s disappointing that there have been no negotiations with the company over this offer. And there are no meetings planned to discuss this further.”

CrossCountry is operated by Arriva and is scheduled to be brought into full public ownership — ultimately becoming part of Great British Railways — in autumn next year.