Train passengers could see Bank Holiday plans ruined as train staff are due to strikes this weekend.
TransPennine Express is asking customers to plan carefully ahead of planned National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) strike action taking place on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1. A 'very limited service' will be operating over the weekend and customers have been advised not to travel, but to plan carefully if journeys are necessary.
The TPE website recommends: "If you’re planning to travel on a day affected by RMT strikes you should check for updates up to the last minute as services may be subject to short notice changes. You should also allow extra time for journeys as the services we are able to operate will be far busier than normal."
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There will be no TPE trains in operation on the West Coast Mainline on Saturday and anyone that needs to make an essential journey between Liverpool/Manchester and Glasgow/Edinburgh via Preston and Carlisle should seek alternative transport or travel on Friday or Monday instead. There is an amended timetable on the Sunday.
There are also amended timetables for the north route (Liverpool and Manchester to Leeds, Hull, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Edinburgh via Huddersfield) and the south route (Manchester to Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Cleethorpes via Sheffield).
All amended timetables can be found here. Customers with tickets marked “AP TPE ONLY” or “TPE ONLY”, as well as flexible tickets (Off-Peak, Anytime, etc) on days of strike action will be allowed to use their tickets to board some trains operated by other companies.
These include:
- Northern, across the network until Monday May 9
- Avanti West Coat, between Wigan and Glasgow Central/Edinburgh until Tuesday May 3
- East Midlands Railway, between Liverpool Lime Street and Sheffield until Monday 2 May. Excludes Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 April
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London North Eastern Railway, between York and Edinburgh on strike day Sundays only until Sunday June 5. Services towards Leeds, Aberdeen, Inverness, or Glasgow Central are excluded from this agreement unless specified otherwise by LNER colleagues
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CrossCountry, between Leeds and Edinburgh, until Monday June 6
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Transport for Wales, between Stockport, Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, on strike days until Sunday June 5
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Lumo, between Newcastle and Edinburgh, on strike days until Sunday June 5
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Hull Trains, between Hull and Selby, Doncaster until Sunday June 5
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ScotRail between Motherwell and Glasgow Central, on strike days until Sunday May 29
Tickets can also be used on available First Bus services in West Yorkshire for customers who may need to use a bus service to complete a rail journey.
The RMT has also announced further planned strike action by its TransPennine Express (TPE) conductors from 00:01 to 23:59 every Sunday until June 5 and the Jubilee Bank Holiday on Saturday June 4.
