Train operators across the UK have released plans for how their services will be altered during the rail strikes.
Passengers have been urged to travel only if 'absolutely necessary' as a fresh wave of strikes begins tomorrow (Saturday). Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite trade unions are taking industrial action in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
There will also be strikes on Monday 7 and Wednesday 9 November, crippling services on those days and causing delays in between the walkouts. A special timetable will be in place at Manchester Piccadilly on strike days, with only four trains per hour leaving, compared to an average of 30 departures an hour during normal days.
Around half of all lines across the UK will be closed. Trains will only operate between 7.30am and 6.30pm on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.
Here is a breakdown of each operator’s plan for strike days, including for TransPennine Express, Northern and Avanti West Coast services:
– Avanti West Coast
There will be one train per hour in both directions between London Euston and each of Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. A limited service will operate to Glasgow.
Several areas will not be served, such as Blackpool, Edinburgh, North Wales and Shrewsbury.
– c2c
It will operate just 15 per cent of normal services on Saturday as the strike coincides with engineering work. There will be four trains per hour in each direction between London Fenchurch Street and Pitsea, with two via Laindon and two via Rainham.
On Monday and Wednesday there will also be a service to and from Shoeburyness. No trains will run via Ockendon or Chafford Hundred.
– Caledonian Sleeper
All departures are cancelled for Monday and Wednesday. No sleeper trains run on Saturday nights.
Departures on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday are disrupted, with some northbound passengers required to change onto road transport during their journey.
– Chiltern Railways
No trains will run north of Banbury or to/from Oxford station. There will be one train per hour in both directions between London Marylebone and each of Aylesbury via High Wycombe; Banbury; and Oxford Parkway.
The same frequency will be in place between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Amersham.
– CrossCountry
A very limited service is planned. No direct services will run to and from Birmingham New Street and these locations: Penzance via Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth; Cardiff Central; Stansted Airport via Peterborough and Cambridge; and Nottingham.
There will be one train per hour to and from Birmingham New Street and the following locations: Bournemouth via Reading and Southampton Central; York via Leeds; Leicester; and Manchester Piccadilly. No trains will run between Birmingham and Scotland on Saturday, and there will be a limited service on Monday and Wednesday.
– East Midlands Railway
Lines are closed between London and Luton on Saturday due to engineering work. On that day, just one train per hour will run in each direction between Luton and each of Corby, Nottingham and Sheffield.
On Monday and Wednesday there will be the same frequency in each direction between London St Pancras and each of Corby, Nottingham and Sheffield. On all strike days there will be one train per hour between Derby and both Matlock and Nottingham; between Sheffield and Nottingham; and between Leicester and Nottingham.
All other routes will be closed.
– Gatwick Express
Services will be suspended. Passengers travelling to or from Gatwick Airport can use Southern and Thameslink trains.
– Grand Central
No trains will run on Saturday. On Monday just two trains in each direction will run between London King’s Cross and both Northallerton and Wakefield Kirkgate.
A similar service is expected to operate on Wednesday.
– Great Northern
There will be very few trains, with no services east of Ely to King’s Lynn.
– Great Western Railway
No services will run on many routes, such as all those in Cornwall, branch lines in Devon, and between Cardiff and Swansea.
– Greater Anglia
On strike days, the company will not run any trains on its regional and branch lines. A very limited service will operate on some routes to and from London Liverpool Street.
– Heathrow Express
A full service will operate, but only between 7.30am and 6.17pm.
– Hull Trains
No trains will run on Saturday. Services will only run between Doncaster and London King’s Cross on Monday and Wednesday.
– London North Eastern Railway
Thursday: Only two trains per hour will operate between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross, and one per hour doing part of the route.
Saturday: Only one train per hour will operate between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross, and two per hour doing part of the route.
– London Northwestern Railway
On Saturday, no trains will run between London King’s Cross and Doncaster. An “extremely limited timetable” will be in operation between Doncaster and Edinburgh, and between Doncaster and Leeds.
Trains will run to a “significantly limited timetable” on Monday and Wednesday.
– Lumo
A reduced timetable will be in place between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh.
– Merseyrail
A limited service will operate. No trains will run between Chester and Rock Ferry, Ellesmere Port and Rock Ferry, or Liverpool Central and Hunts Cross.
– Northern
Passengers are urged “not to travel” as only a small number of routes will have trains. Routes that will be open include Liverpool to Manchester; Manchester to Alderley Edge; York to Leeds; and Leeds to Sheffield.
– ScotRail
Trains will only run across the Central Belt, Fife and the Borders.
– South Western Railway
A “severely limited service” will run, and only between London Waterloo and Basingstoke, Southampton, Windsor and Woking.
– Southeastern
The vast majority of the network in Kent and East Sussex will be closed. The high-speed route to Ashford International will be open.
– Southern
Much of the network will be shut down. Services which will run include those on the Brighton Mainline to London Bridge and London Victoria.
– Stansted Express
One train per hour will run between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.
– Thameslink
There will be far fewer trains than normal. Services will be split north and south, with nothing running between London St Pancras and London Bridge.
– TransPennine Express
A reduced timetable will operate on the following routes to and from Liverpool and Manchester: Leeds, Hull, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough, Saltburn and Newcastle.
– Transport for Wales
Most lines will be closed. An hourly service will run between Cardiff and Newport, with limited trains elsewhere.
There will be no services from Cardiff after the Wales v New Zealand rugby match.
West Midlands Railway
A limited service will operate only between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street; Crewe and Birmingham New Street via Wolverhampton; and Birmingham New Street and London Euston via Northampton.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- This is Awaab - the little boy who died after being exposed to damp and mould in his home
-
Dad of teen, 19, who died after Snake Pass crash left furious at emergency services
-
They deserved better, Greater Manchester deserves better, it must not happen again
-
Town centre chaos as 'fabulous' drivers get stuck in new one-way system and mount kerb
