Rail strikes '˜costing the UK £300m', study reveals

By The Newsroom
Published 20th Dec 2016, 13:21 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 22:32 BST
Research from the University of Chichester has found that Southern Rail strikes have cost the UK hundreds of millions of pounds.

Professor of Management and Economic Development at Chichester University Dave Cooper led the study which revealed the total cost of the dispute to the country’s GDP could be £300million.

Today (December 20) is the 27th day of industrial action taken by ASLEF and RMT over proposed changes which started in April this year.

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The study by Professor Cooper explored the impact on productivity of both the RMT and ASLEF union strikes.

The report calculated the total economic costs to the thousands of commuters who were delayed, have missed work, or have had to stay at home.

Professor Cooper said: “The findings put the impact on the economy at about £11million for every day and, if the next scheduled strike days go ahead, the total would be brought to just under £396million.

“In reality this may be higher as it does not account for other impacts such as loss of sales, impact of travel delays, staff morale and motivational issues, or individual loss of income.