No trains will run past 7pm on Friday (Image: Getty)
Thousands of rail passengers are being urged to check before they travel this week as strike action is set to cause disruption across parts of the UK rail network. Services operated by London Northwestern Railway (LNR) and West Midlands Trains (WMT) are expected to face cancellations, delays, and reduced services after staff unions were unable to reach an agreement with the Department for Transport on an improved rest-day working arrangement.
The TSSA said roster clerks will walk out from 12.01am on Thursday until 12.01am on Friday, while duty train crew managers and control staff will take industrial action between 12pm on Friday and 12pm on Saturday. As a result, London Northwestern Railway will operate a significantly reduced timetable on Friday and Saturday. Some parts of the network will have no train services at all, while other routes that remain open will run fewer trains, start later than normal and finish earlier, with the final departures expected before 7pm.
Early morning services will not run on Saturday (Image: Getty)
Passengers have also been warned that some Sunday morning services could be affected, as strike action may leave trains and crews out of position for the start of the day.
No London Northwestern Railway services will operate on the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley or on the Stafford to Crewe route via Stoke-on-Trent on Friday and Saturday.
Birmingham to Liverpool, London Euston to Crewe, Birmingham to London Euston via Northampton, Milton Keynes to London Euston and Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey will each run just one train per hour throughout Friday and Saturday.
Services will also finish much earlier than usual on Friday. No trains will run past 7pm, with final departures significantly earlier . The final London Euston to Crewe service, for example, will depart at 3.46pm, while the last London Euston to Birmingham New Street train leaves at 4.26pm. The final London Euston to Milton Keynes Central service is scheduled to depart at 5.09pm. On Saturday, trains will not begin running until around 7am, meaning early morning services will not operate.
There will be no service on Friday and Saturday on all WMR routes via Birmingham Snow Hill, the Camp Hill Line, Nuneaton to Leamington Spa, Birmingham New Street to Hereford, and Birmingham New Street to Shrewsbury.
Passengers are advised to continue checking journey planners before travelling, as timetables are still being updated and services may change. LNR and WMT have offered customers a full refund for cancelled rail services, or tickets can be used on Thursday Juy 9 or Sunday July 12.
LNR said: “A significantly reduced service will be in operation on the London Northwestern Railway network on both Friday 10 July and Saturday 11 July due to strike action by members of the TSSA union. Passengers should check their journeys before travelling on these dates.”
TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “These strikes will go ahead as planned because our members have not been given parity with those in other unions – a perfectly reasonable demand.
“As things stand, we face an intolerable situation. Our reps at West Midlands Trains have consulted the membership, and they remain determined to proceed with their legitimate action.
“The last round of industrial action caused a significant impact to services and the same will happen this time around. Of course, as ever, our union only takes strike action as a last resort, so we hope that our demands can be met in the coming days to avoid any more disruption.”
London Northwestern Railway’s customer experience director, Jonny Wiseman, said: “We are disappointed TSSA has called further unnecessary strike action which is set to cause significant disruption for our customers. We are working hard to reach a resolution to this dispute and urge TSSA to continue talks.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause our customers and we are doing everything we can to minimise the impact as much as possible. If the strike action does go ahead we will be running a significantly reduced timetable on both dates.”
A limited service will be in operation on the following five major LNR routes
- Birmingham – Liverpool – 1 train per hour
- London Euston – Crewe – 1 train per hour
- Birmingham – London Euston via Northampton – 1 train per hour
- Milton Keynes – London Euston – 1 train per hour
- Watford Junction – St Albans Abbey – 1 train per hour
A limited service will also be in operation on the following WMR routes
- Cross City Line (Lichfield – Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street) – 2 trains per hour
- Wolverhampton – Walsall via Birmingham New Street – 1 train per hour
- Rugeley Trent Valley – Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street – 1 train per hour