ASLEF will ballot members on Avanti West Coast for industrial action after the company failed to make an acceptable pay offer.

📣 NEW: From today, you can begin training to be a train driver once you're 18. ASLEF has worked closely with the government to bring about this hugely important change for the future of our industry.

It's one week since the tragic incident near Bedford. Members are invited to observe a minute's silence at 17:15 today, where safe to do so.

Responding to the interim RAIB report on the Bedford train collision, ASLEF general secretary Dave Calfe said: ‘The investigation is not concluded, and has a long way to go, but it appears that the 16:40 East Midlands Railway service from Corby to London St Pancras passed a signal at danger (1/5)

ASLEF General Secretary Dave Calfe has responded to Keir Starmer announcing a timetable for his resignation as prime minister. "We now need a PM and Labour leader who will work with trade unions to deliver the New Deal for Working People in full."

Our thoughts tonight are with the family and friends of the driver who died in the crash near Bedford today, and with the passengers injured in the accident. We want to thank the emergency services who responded so quickly to help those on board and are still at the scene.

We are deeply concerned by reports of the collision of two trains near Bedford. Our thoughts at this time are with all staff and passengers on board. Thank you to the emergency services for their ongoing work responding to the incident.

Next stop on the way to GBR 🚄 On Wednesday 10 June the Railways Bill passed the 3rd reading and its final stage in the House of Commons. It now moves on to the House of Lords. This is another important stop on the way to the formal creation of Great British Railways.

Nigel Farage claims Reform 'are on the side of working people'. Then do they want to slash our rights?

Today, Govia Thameslink Railway enters public ownership. GTR – which includes Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express – will now be run for the benefit of passengers, not private profit.

Great British Railways must mean conditions on the railway go forwards, not backwards. Our annual conference today committed to work for harmonisation of Ts&Cs, national standard part-time arrangements and no use of AI to undermine jobs. #AAD26

Proud to have @unitetheunion #BrumBinStrike rep Danny Taylor speak at our conference in Birmingham. The bin strikers are an inspiration – and their dispute has shown us the power of trade unionists standing together. #AAD26

🚽 #DignityForDrivers 🛤️ Rail freight 🎫 Staff travel 🫶 Carers' leave Day 3️⃣ of #AAD26 saw moves on a host of big issues affecting the railway.

'When we need support, ASLEF has always been there with our members.' Thank you @usdawunion.bsky.social General Secretary Joanne Thomas, chair of @labourunionsuk.bsky.social, for addressing our conference and for your solidarity. #AAD26

Labour Deputy Leader @lucympowell.bsky.social says that ASLEF and our fellow trade unions are the party's 'superpower'. Lucy opened #AAD26, our annual conference.

#AAD26 is officially under way in Birmingham. Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell opened our annual conference by thanking ASLEF members for ‘keeping our country going’. Over the next 5 days, delegates from across our union will debate and decide ASLEF policy for the next year.

This #MayDay marks 100 years since the historic solidarity action of the General Strike. ASLEF members were among the 1.7 million workers who walked out in sympathy with miners. We are proud to continue that tradition of solidarity today.

Today is Workers Memorial Day. We remember those train drivers who tragically lost their lives at work. #IWMD26

😀 The scenery outside the window 😩 2:30am alarm This #NationalTrainDriver Day we're talking about the best and worst bits of being a train driver...

It's #NationalTrainDriverDay and we're celebrating a railway for everyone. Thank your train driver today!

The new Fair Work Agency launches today. Enforcement agents now have the power to punish employers who violate your rights at work. This is a big win for workers after years of campaigning by trade unions.

We welcome that a firm date is now in sight for withdrawing the HSTs at ScotRail. Wider fleet renewal is underway at ScotRail and we urge ScotRail and the Scottish Government to use public financing and green bonds to replace the rest of the ageing fleet in the future. buff.ly/sbzqzgY

General Secretary Dave Calfe met with Transport Minister Heidi Alexander to discuss: ✅️ Protecting drivers’ Ts&Cs through the formation of GBR ✅️ Moving beyond outdated rolling stock ✅️ Securing the future of rail freight

General Secretary Dave Calfe met with members of the ASLEF parliamentary group today to discuss rights at work, the Railways Bill, and our campaigns on a #RailFreightFuture, #DignityForDrivers and rolling stock procurement.

Reform want to cut workers' rights.

🚆 Big union win in Spain: Our train driver colleagues SEMAF have ended their strike after the government agreed to boost investment in railway maintenance and significantly increase staffing levels. This follows the tragic incidents in Adamuz and Gelida last month.

🚨 NEW: Tory plans to bring back minimum service levels and impose DOO across the rail network have been defeated. The Railways Bill will go forward without their ridiculous amendments. @libdems.org.uk – why did you abstain?

📢 The Tories are trying to amend the Railways Bill to remove workers' right to strike. They want to IMPOSE minimum service levels on the railway and REPEAL provisions in the Employment Rights Act 2025. We're lobbying to ensure their ridiculous, anti-worker amendments don't become law.

Today West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway enter public ownership. That means that from today half of all rail journeys that will fall under GBR’s remit are operated by publicly owned companies. #OnTrackForPublicOwnership

ASLEF condemns the Russian drone attack that killed at least 5 people on a passenger train in Ukraine. Targeting civilian passengers is abhorrent and unjustifiable. Solidarity with Ukrainian workers, millions of whom are without heating or electricity in the middle of winter.

81 years ago today, the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated. This Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember those murdered in the Holocaust and other genocides around the world, and stand in solidarity with the oppressed.

As the Carmont Fatal Accident Inquiry begins today, ASLEF, is thinking of, and expressing solidarity with, the families of Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and train driver Brett McCullough who all died following the derailment. buff.ly/kWlJfbw

Today we mourn the tragic loss of a fellow train driver following the incident near Barcelona. We send solidarity to our union siblings SEMAF as they mourn their member and colleague.

ASLEF extends its condolences to the loved ones of those who have tragically lost their lives following the derailment in Córdoba yesterday. Our thoughts and solidarity are with our union siblings in SEMAF.

Today we paid our respects to those that died and were injured in the Clapham rail disaster 37 years ago today. The inquiry which followed the crash found serious failures of health and safety during maintenance and upgrading of the line.

The business lobby and Tory and Lib Dem Lords’ opposition to day one protection from unfair dismissal is disgraceful. But the Employment Rights Bill will still be the biggest uplift in workers’ rights in decades. We’ll continue fighting for comprehensive day one rights for every worker.

Incredibly welcome to see the chancellor announce in the #Budget2026 that the Tories' grotesque two-child benefit cap will be scrapped. This will mean almost half a million fewer children in poverty by 2030.

🚨 NEW: Rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years. ASLEF has long been campaigning against transport poverty. This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make the journeys they need to take. 👏 @heidialexander.bsky.social

1 in 10 women will be diagnosed with depression. There’s probably a similar statistic for men... but we don’t have it. Stigmas stop many men disclosing symptoms or seeking help. It’s Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month. If you need someone to talk to, call Samaritans on 0330 094 5717.

On #TransDayOfRemembrance we remember those who've tragically lost their lives at the hands of transphobic violence. @tgeuorg.bsky.social reports a rise in murders of trans activists in the last year. Trans rights are trade union rights. Attacks on those rights are a fight for us all.

NEW: ASLEF members have elected Dave Calfe as the union’s General Secretary. Dave will succeed Mick Whelan in leading the UK’s train drivers’ union.

We welcome the Railways Bill laid before Parliament this afternoon that will establish Great British Railways. After three decades of campaigning, this Bill will finally do away with the ponzi scheme of privatisation and help give passengers and staff the railway we deserve.

Today ScotRail has started procurement of a new suburban train fleet. This is a fantastic opportunity to end the failed private model of PFI and rolling stock companies. Instead the Scottish Government should issue Green Bonds to fund new stock and save passengers money.

We are relieved there were no major injuries after a Glasgow–Euston service derailed at Shap this morning, and that all passengers and staff were safely evacuated. We will work with the RAIB in its investigation, and with other stakeholders, to uncover and understand the cause.

Deeply concerning reports of stabbings on an LNER train near Huntingdon

👌😘 This train driver has the perfect response to media elites complaining about wages...

Yesterday (15/10/25) members attended a commemoration service to mark the 31st anniversary of the Cowden train crash which took the lives of Norwood drivers Brian Barton and Dave Rees, Selhurst guard Jon Brett-Andrews, and passengers Raymond and Maura Pointer. #railwayfamily

This #BlackHistoryMonth, we celebrate the struggles and achievements that have shaped the country and the world we know today.

Today Greater Anglia re-enters public ownership. It's another huge step towards a railway run for passengers, not profit. Welcome back.