Liverpool fans are expected to face travel chaos for two of the club’s upcoming fixtures.
The Reds are due to travel to Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur in the coming weeks. Liverpool go to the City Ground on October 22 and to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on November 6.
Jurgen Klopp’s side take on Forest in a 12.30pm Saturday lunchtime kick-off. While the trip to Spurs is at 4.30pm kick-off on a Sunday afternoon.
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However, it has been confirmed by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) that members working as train managers on Avanti West Coast will walk out on both of these days in a row over rosters. This means that Liverpool fans looking to travel to Nottingham or London for the two matches are likely to face significant disruption.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Avanti are one of the worst operators we have ever tried to negotiate with. They have treated our members appallingly and this strike action is the culmination of months of neglect and a strong response to the arrogance bosses have shown.
"Avanti should never have been given any extension to their franchise contract for all the chaos they have caused passengers, and their contempt of their staff is part and parcel of their disastrous approach."
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson responded by saying: "We're disappointed by the RMT's decision to go on strike in the coming weeks which we think is premature. This is completely unfair on our customers who will again bear the brunt of more unnecessary disruption to their plans.
"We would urge the RMT to reconsider this course of action and work with us to resolve this dispute."
The Avanti West Coast website, at the time of writing, is yet to publish a new timetable for the affected days caused by the strike action. A statement on the site says that the train company is currently working to rebuild a timetable for October 22 and November 6.
“We’re currently working hard to rebuild our timetable in a resilient and sustainable way that will allow us to gradually increase services without being reliant on traincrew overtime, which has fallen dramatically in recent weeks,” a statement on the website read.
“As a result, our upcoming timetables are being amended on a rolling basis and will be confirmed at shorter notice than usual. While the timetable is available on our website and app, some services are still subject to change or will not operate at all.
“We know we’re not delivering the service you rightly expect and we're sorry for the enormous frustration and inconvenience this is causing. We’d like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding.”
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