Rail firm wins legal fight over union dispute

East Midlands Trains has won an appeal over a decision by a High Court judge not to grant the company an injunction against a rail union over industrial action.

The injunction was granted by three judges at the Court of Appeal in London.

Hundreds of National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers members started banning overtime last month amid claims of a breakdown in industrial relations with the company which runs services between South Yorkshire and London and on other regional routes.

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East Midlands Trains described the dispute as “invented” and said it had been forced to start legal proceedings to prevent the RMT from causing disruption to passengers .

The firm said yesterday: “The RMT should now put the interests of customers first and comply fully with the court ruling.”

Union general secretary Bob Crow said the ruling “only affects part of the action RMT are currently involved in on East Midlands Trains” and certain action would continue.

Analysis of angry comments on Twitter by rail passengers suggests the least popular rail company is South West Trains. East Coast has the most positive tweets.