Northern Rail, which operates services from Liverpool Lime Street and other parts of Merseyside, is warning rail users "do not travel" across some parts of the festive period.
The train operator has published a calendar to help people know when is best to travel during Christmas and New Year. This highlights the known industrial action, major engineering work and regular Christmas "shutdown" (Christmas Day and Boxing Day) up until Tuesday, January 10, outlining when customers can expect disruption, or will not be able to travel at all.
Rail workers will walk out on a number of days this month in a bitter row over pay and conditions.
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Regarding the December strikes, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said it was unfortunate that the union had been “compelled to take this action due to the continuing intransigence of the employers”. He said: “We remain available for talks in order to resolve these issues but we will not bow to pressure from the employers and the Government to the detriment of our members.”
Northern's calendar outlines the days when:
- customers can travel but should expect disruption
- customers should not travel due to very limited services
- customers cannot travel as there are no services operating
- customers can expect a normal service
Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We hope this quick reference guide will make it easier for customers to make travel arrangements over the Christmas period. The main cause of the disruption remains industrial action by the RMT union and we can only apologise to our customers for the inconvenience it will cause to their journeys.”
Northern’s new timetable came into effect just before this extended period of disruption, so it is advising customers to use the new "Check My Timetable" feature on its website to see the changes specific to their local station.
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