There is more disruption for rail passengers in England today, after train drivers began another round of industrial action on Monday to push for better pay and conditions.
In a three-day strike, drivers in the Aslef union will strike for 24 hours at each of England’s national train operators over the course of three days from yesterday until Thursday, and an overtime ban will apply nationwide until Saturday.
The first wave yesterday affected commuter routes into London. Today, there is a 24-hour strike at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains – halting most services in the west of England, Midlands and routes to Scotland and Wales. Tomorrow, drivers will strike at LNER, Northern and TransPennine Express.
The union is pushing for an improved pay offer, with some of its members not having had a pay rise for five years. The last talks broke down a year ago.
The Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, emailed Aslef late last week to suggest discussions about a framework for formal talks, which the union said it welcomed.
Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, has forecast a near 20% drop in annual profit, after safety scandals forced it to cut back production. The Japanese carmaker plans to invest 1.7tn yen (£8.8bn) in electric vehicle and artificial intelligence technology to keep up with rivals.
Toyota said operating income will fall by 19.7% to 4.3tn yen in the year to March 2025, which is worse than expected. It also said it would buy back up to 1tn yen, about 3% of its shares.
The agenda • 8.30am BST: Sweden Riksbank rate decision (forecast: cut from 4% to 3.75%) • 9am BST: Italy retail sales for March • 12.00pm BST: US MBA Mortgage applications for week of 3 May
… there is a good reason why not to support the Guardian
Not everyone can afford to pay for news right now. That is why we keep our journalism open for everyone to read. If this is you, please continue to read for free.
But if you are able to, then there are three good reasons to support us today.
1
Our quality, investigative journalism is a powerful force for scrutiny at a time when the rich and powerful are getting away with more and more
2
We are independent and have no billionaire owner telling us what to report, so your money directly powers our reporting
3
It doesn’t cost much, and takes less time than it took to read this message
Help power the Guardian’s journalism in this crucial year of news, whether with a small sum or a larger one. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis . It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you're making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to Business Today. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396
BP right to hold steady on climate targets despite below forecast profits 
