Rail customers in the North East are being advised to avoid travel by train this bank holiday weekend ahead of strike action.
There will be major disruption to TransPennine Express (TPE) services on both Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May across the North and into Scotland, and customers are being urged to travel either side of the weekend instead. The rail operator will only be running a very small number of services during this time.
Network Rail will also be carrying out major engineering work across the weekend, including on bank holiday Monday, which will mean fewer trains and some bus replacements will be in place. Anyone making an essential journey is advised to should plan ahead, check very carefully and allow extra time when travelling as trains will be very busy and changes and cancellations are likely.
On the West Coast Mainline, upgrades between Carlisle and Edinburgh/Glasgow will be taking place between Saturday and bank holiday Monday. Work will also take place between Oxenholme and Edinburgh/Glasgow on Sunday and a replacement bus service will be in operation for those making essential journeys.
Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Experience Director for TransPennine Express said: “With further action by RMT taking this weekend, we are urging customers once again to avoid travel on our services and travel either side of the weekend instead.
“We are saddened and disappointed that this disruption will mean we are unable to get our customers to where they want to be this bank holiday weekend.”
Ticket acceptance is in place with Northern, Avanti West Coast (between Wigan and Carlisle), CrossCountry (between Leeds and Edinburgh), East Midlands Railway (between Liverpool Lime Street and Sheffield), Lumo (between Newcastle and Edinburgh), LNER (on Sunday only between York and Edinburgh), ScotRail, Hull Trains (between Hull and Doncaster) and Transport for Wales services. Ticket acceptance is also in place for FirstBus services in West Yorkshire for customers who may need to use a bus service to complete a rail journey.
Strikes by RMT are planned to take place on Sundays up to and including 5 June, and on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June.
Further information about the disruption, including the services TPE is planning to operate this weekend can be found at: tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/strike. Some exclusions will apply and full details are available via the TPE website.
