Rail passengers are being urged to travel only if 'absolutely necessary' as a fresh wave of rail strikes begins on Saturday. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport ( RMT ), Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite trade unions are taking industrial action in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Strikes will be also be November 7 and 9, crippling services on those days and causing delays in between the walkouts. A special timetable will be in place at Manchester Piccadilly on strike days, with only four trains per hour leaving, compared to an average of 30 departures an hour during normal days.
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Many routes will have no trains at all - those which do run will start later from 7.30am and finish by 6.30pm. The station will be closed from 7pm.
Passengers are advised to plan ahead using National Rail Enquiries and to expect disruption. Across England only one in five trains will be running on around half of the railway network.
Timetables for services on Saturday have been published and are live on the National Rail journey planner. Timetables for next Monday and Wednesday will be published tomorrow (Thursday) and Saturday respectively.
Phil James, Network Rail's North West route director, said: " It's hugely frustrating that once again rail passengers across the north west will be disrupted due to unnecessary strike action despite our best efforts to reach a compromise with the unions. This means once again many north west routes won’t be served at all, causing misery for millions of rail passengers.
"With a fraction of the usual workforce available, including signallers who safely move trains around the network, there will be a severely limited service during the RMT strike action on the 5, 7 and 9 November. I can only apologise for the impact another RMT strike will have on people's lives.
"It is frustrating to yet again ask our passengers to change their plans and only make absolutely necessary journeys. I'd also please ask anyone who does try to travel to be kind to our staff who are working, as all will be trying to provide the best advice they can for people while a very limited train service is running."
Avanti West Coast train managers who are members of the RMT will also be taking industrial action on Sunday, November 6. It will see the Avanti timetable reduced significantly.
The RMT said it will continue its industrial campaign until it reaches a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and working conditions. Speaking last week general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Our focus in this dispute is the rail employers who have yet to make an offer that will create the conditions for a negotiated settlement.
"I call upon the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to unshackle the rail industry so they can come to a settlement with RMT. We will vigorously pursue our industrial campaign until we achieve a deal."
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