Rail passengers in the East Midlands should plan ahead and only travel by train if it’s absolutely necessary this Thursday (18 Aug) and Saturday (20 Aug). With rail unions calling national industrial action, train services will be limited and only run between 7.30am and 6.30pm. Passengers are also advised to travel later in the day on Friday (19 Aug) and Sunday (21 Aug) as service start up is likely to be affected by the industrial action on the previous day.
Thousands of specially-trained and fully qualified contingency staff will step in during the walkout – which has been called by the RMT, TSSA and Unite unions – to keep vital services running for those who need them. Even so, a very limited service will run and passengers are asked to only travel by train if they must.
Trains will start later and finish much earlier than usual and the last long distance services will leave in the early afternoon. In a change to previous days of industrial action, East Midlands Railway services between London and Corby and Nottingham and Sheffield will not run on either day. On Saturday 20 Aug, there will also be no services between Nottingham and Leicester and CrossCountry services are affected by engineering work at Water Orton.
Gary Walsh, Route Director for Network Rail’s East Midlands Route said: “I’m sorry that the ongoing industrial action means that East Midlands passengers will see a significant reduction in services this Thursday and Saturday.
“We’re doing all we can to run services safely but the impact will be significant. I advise those who absolutely need to travel by train to plan ahead, check their journey and expect severe disruption.”
Further information for passengers is available on the National Rail website.
Photo credit: Network Rail
