Trains will be in short supply across the North East on Wednesday when RMT union members go on strike again.
Employees working for 14 rail operators, including LNER, CrossCountry, TransPennine and Northern are set to walk out again on Wednesday July 27, along with colleagues from Network Rail. They are then set to strike again on August 18 and August 20.
Union leaders announced the July and August strikes after rejecting a new offer from Network Rail which they described as “paltry”. The offer was for a 4% pay rise backdated to January, another 2% next year and a further 2% conditional on achieving “modernisation milestones”.
The RMT said the offer represented a real terms pay cut, as the rise is below inflation. July and August's pickets follow three days of strikes from the same union in June.
Read more: Two Metro lines to shut on day of RMT rail strike
As Northern, TransPennine, CrossCountry and LNER staff are striking, there will be disruption to services in Newcastle and other parts of the North East. Even the operators whose staff are not striking, Lumo, Grand Central and the Tyne Wear Metro, are set to be affected, as Network Rail signalling staff are striking, which means trains can not run safely on some lines.
How July 27 RMT strike affects trains in Newcastle and the North East
Some routes will be completely closed. Northern will not operate any trains through Newcastle, Sunderland or Northumberland. The Tyne Valley Line between Carlisle, Hexham and Newcastle will be shut, and there will be trains between Newcastle and Sunderland. Northern's only route open in the North East will be a limited service between Darlington and Saltburn.
TransPennine Express will operate just two trains a day in each direction between Newcastle and Edinburgh. There will be no TransPennine service between Newcastle and Leeds.
CrossCountry will operate a reduced timetable, while LNER will run two trains an hour between Edinburgh and London. Lumo, Grand Central and Tyne Wear Metro services will be affected too.
LNER
LNER will be running a reduced service of two trains per hour between Edinburgh and London, via Newcastle. The first train from Newcastle to Edinburgh will depart at 07:42. The last one will leave at 16.58.
Southbound, the first train from Newcastle to London King's Cross will leave at 08:27. The last train will leave at 14:30.
Head here for LNER's latest strike timetables for Berwick, Alnmouth, Morpeth, Newcastle, Durham and Darlington.
Northern
Customers are advised not to travel on Northern's network on Wednesday July 27. Many lines will be shut, including the Tyne Valley Line linking Hexham to Newcastle. In the North East, the only Northern line open at all will be the Darlington to Saltburn route. Head here for the timetable.
CrossCountry
"There will be significant disruption to services across the rail network, please only travel by train if your journey is necessary," says CrossCountry. It will operate on a reduced timetable.
From Newcastle, the first northbound train towards Edinburgh will depart at 10:35. The last one leaves Newcastle at 16:35.
The first southbound CrossCountry service is due to leave Newcastle at 08:40. The last one is due to leave at 16:35
Head here to view the full CrossCountry strike timetabl e for Darlington, Durham, Newcastle Central, Morpeth, Alnmouth and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
TransPennine Express
A reduced timetable will be in place. Customers are advised to seek alternative transport and only plan essential travel.
An extremely limited timetable of just two trains a day in either direction is in place between Newcastle and Edinburgh. According to National Rail, TransPennine's Newcastle to Leeds route won't operate.
The first train from Newcastle to Edinburgh departs at 09:19. The last train is due to leave at 13:17.
View the timetable for Edinburgh to Newcastle via Berwick, Alnmouth and Morpeth here.
Lumo
Lumo staff are not striking, but Network Rail staff are. As Network Rail operates signals, its staff striking has an impact on Lumo services.
Lumo's strike timetable says the first train from Newcastle to Edinburgh will leave at 08:42. The last one will depart at 16:51.
The first train from Newcastle to London will depart at 07:57. The last one will leave at 12:50.
Lumo's strike timetable is here.
Grand Central
No Grand Central trains will depart from or call at Sunderland, Hartlepool or Eaglescliffe on Wednesday July 26. Grand Central staff are not striking, but its trains are affected by Network Rail's strike. Find Grand Central's timetables here
Tyne Wear Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro employees are not taking industrial action, but there will be an impact on Metro services operating between Pelaw and South Hylton because this stretch of line is part of the national rail network which is owned and managed by Network Rail. If Network Rail does not have enough people at work to operate signals then train services cannot run.
Tickets will be accepted on local buses. There are also engineering works that have closed the route between St James' and Tynemouth.
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