Merseyside will face a day of transport chaos tomorrow as bus and rail strikes combine.
An ongoing walk-out of Arriva bus drivers looks set to continue into Wednesday, meaning there will once again be none of the major operator's services available anywhere across the region. A 24-hour national rail strike will also begin tomorrow and is set to disrupt rail services within and heading in and out of the region. We've rounded up the different action set to impact the region below.
Arriva bus strikes
As things stand, there has been no breakthrough in a dispute between Arriva and the Unite and GMB unions which has seen continuous strikes held since last Wednesday.
During each day of the industrial action there will be no Arriva bus services operating anywhere within Merseyside, with the exception of the Liverpool Clatterbridge Hospital shuttle service. The action means there are also no services in Greater Manchester, Lancashire or Cheshire, except for local Macclesfield services which will all run with the exception of service 38.
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The dispute is over pay and conditions for workers. Arriva says it believes it has offered a fair pay rise of 8.5%, but the UNITE union said the issues have 'fermented' over a long period of time for workers.
This morning an Arriva spokesperson said there had been no change in the company's position, adding: "We are disappointed for all our customers that we continue to be unable to reach an agreement with Unite and GMB, with no date yet for services being resumed. " The UNITE union has also recently confirmed that there has been no breakthrough in the dispute.
National rail strikes
Tomorrow will also see another national rail strike organised by the Rail and Maritime Transport Workers Union (RMT). Last month saw three days of walk-outs across the national network, with 40,00 workers from Network Rail and 14 train operators go out on strike.
Tomorrow the RMT will continue its action in its fight for a better pay deal to try and help workers keep up with the cost of living. A similar number of workers are set to walk-out, impacting services all over the country.
A large number of operators that travel in and our of our region will be severely impacted, including Northern, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, Transport for Wales and East Midlands Railway. Affected operators are urging people not to travel at all on the railways for the duration of the 24-hour strike and for those that must, to plan carefully as services will be hugely reduced.
Only two trains per hour will depart from Liverpool Lime Street Station - compared to around 10 an hour on non-strike days. Liverpool Lime Street's last trains will leave between 3pm and 5pm with final arrivals by 6.30pm.
Merseyrail
Merseyrail staff are not part of tomorrow's 24-hour strike action, but the inter-region network will still be impacted tomorrow because of the walk-out by Network Rail signalling and maintenance staff.
During the last action in June, the entire Merseyrail network was shut down for three days, but the operator says it expects to be able to run a limited service tomorrow.
Merseyrail confirmed that an hourly service will run at selected stations only between 7.30am and 6.30pm to help passengers make essential journeys. There will be no rail replacement buses on strike days and people are urged to make alternative travel arrangements.
Here's how you can access rail services tomorrow:
- Chester & Ellesmere Port line – There will be no trains from Chester or Ellesmere Port. Trains will start at Rock Ferry. It will call at Rock Ferry, Birkenhead Central, Hamilton Square, Moorfields and Liverpool Central.
- New Brighton line – Trains will start at New Brighton and will call at Wallasey Grove Road, Birkenhead North, Birkenhead Park, Hamilton Square, Moorfields and Liverpool Central.
- West Kirby line – Trains will start at West Kirby and call at Meols, Moreton, Leasowe, Birkenhead North, Birkenhead Park, Hamilton Square, Moorfields and Liverpool Central.
- Southport line - Trains will start at Southport and will call at Formby, Blundellsands and Crosby, Waterloo, Moorfields and Liverpool Central.
- Ormskirk line – Trains will start at Ormskirk and will call at Maghull, Aintree, Kirkdale, Moorfields and Liverpool Central.
- Kirkby line – Trains will start at Kirkby and will call at Fazakerley, Rice Lane, Kirkdale, Moorfields and Liverpool Central.
- Hunts Cross line - no services will run.
The full timetable can be found here. Merseyrail confirmed that on Thursday, July 28, trains will be reintroduced from 7am when the 24-hour strike ends. There are no rail replacement bus services for the early morning disruption due to lack of availability, but a normal, full train service will resume from 7.30am across the Merseyrail network.
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