Northern has warned passengers not to travel in the first week of January due to planned strike action.
The rail operator gave the fresh do not travel guidance today, Tuesday, December 27 to all customers for the first week of 2023. Northern issued the warning to customers across the north of England as strikes by trade unions RMT and ASLEF are expected to bring services to a halt from Tuesday, January 3 to Saturday, January 7.
The planned industrial action includes two 48-hour walk outs by the RMT union on January 3-4 and 6-7. ASLEF members will also stage a one-day strike on January 5.
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Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations. The rail operator runs services from Liverpool Lime Street to destinations including Manchester Piccadilly. The Manchester train line also serves a number of Merseyside stations including Wavertree Technology Park and Huyton.
Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: "This is a most regrettable start to 2023 and we can only apologise to our customers whose return to work from the holidays will be disrupted by the action by the RMT and ASLEF. For many, Monday, January 9 will be their first experience of our new timetable – which went live in December and includes an additional 3,000 services a week across our network.
"As such, we’re encouraging everyone to use the new ‘ Check My Timetable ’ feature on our website to see the changes specific to their local station."
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