TRAIN drivers on Southern Railways and Gatwick Express have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a pay dispute ASLEF members will walk out on Tuesday August 1, Wednesday August 2 and Friday August 4.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said: "Now is the time for Chris Grayling and the Department for Transport to step in and assist in finding a resolution to a problem they caused."

Drivers are also no longer carrying out overtime in a separate dispute with the company over the attempted introduction, without negotiation, of driver only operation on some routes.

A spokesperson for Govia Thameslink Railway, parent company of Southern, said: “To call three days of strikes spread across a week is a deliberate move to cause maximum disruption for passengers.

"To do so in protest against an offer to increase pay by 24% is simply breathtaking. Commuters, the vast majority of whom are seeing pay rises many times less, will understandably be as shocked and frustrated as we are.

"We absolutely need to modernise in order to increase capacity on this, the most congested part of the UK's network, where passenger numbers have doubled in places in as little as 12 years.

"That requires modernisation of infrastructure, trains and working practices. The trade unions must join us in that endeavour."