The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT) has rejected train operators' "best and final" 9pc pay rise in a major blow to hopes that further strikes can be avoided.

Under pressure from its branches the RMT refused to put the deal to a ballot of its members. Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, this week underlined that the tabled offer was “best and final” - a clear sign that he was not willing to allow train operators to sweeten their deal with better terms on pay.

The union's general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Our members cannot accept the ripping up of their terms and conditions or to have safety standards on the railway put into jeopardy under the guise of so-called modernisation.

“If our union did accept these offers, we would see a severe reduction in scheduled maintenance tasks, making the railways less safe, the closure of all ticket offices and thousands of jobs stripped out of the industry when the railways need more investment not less.

“Our industrial campaign will continue for as long as it takes to get a negotiated settlement that meets our members' reasonable expectations on jobs, pay and working conditions.”

Hopes had been raised that the RMT was close to agreeing to pay deals from both train operators and Network Rail as Mr Lynch came under pressure from members to avoid further strike action.

Feedback from branch leaders, however, suggests renewed support for further industrial action on the railways.

Details leaked to the Telegraph on Friday showed significant opposition to RMT chief Mick Lynch accepting the pay deal.

Branch leaders urged him to do more to hasten “the suppression of the capitalist system by a socialistic order of society”.
They also called for rail strikes to take place every Saturday to advance their agenda.

What dates are the next train strikes?

It remains unclear when exactly the next strikes will come, with the RMT's national executive committee meeting on February 15 to consider new dates. 

In an internal memo seen by The Telegraph, RMT branch leaders have called on Mr Lynch to organise “strikes on every Saturday for the duration of the dispute apart from May. [And] a continuous three-day strike starting on the first Monday of May”.

That would put the dates of the next rail strikes up to May as:

February 18, 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Then commuters would face strike disruption from Monday, May 1 until Wednesday, May 3.

February strikes saw the involvement of both RMT and Aslef workers. The strike resulted in 15 operators having no train services available, causing chaos for commuters unless they worked from home. Operators hit by strikes last time were: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Heathrow Express, Island Line, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Railway. 

The industrial action on Wednesday, Feb 1 was particularly disruptive with thousands of additional workers from other unions also on strike. This marked the biggest day of strikes in over a decade, according to the TUC.