Avanti West Coast is strongly advising customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on the upcoming strike days as it prepares to operate a significantly reduced timetable.
Two 48-hour strikes by RMT and TSSA members across train operators and Network Rail next week (13/14 December and 16/17 December) will result in the intercity operator running less than a third of its new December timetable.
With fewer services running and a significantly reduced operation, trains could be busy, and customers are strongly advised to only travel if absolutely necessary. Customers who chose not to travel are able to claim a refund from their point of purchase. Those who have to travel should plan ahead, expect disruption, and check the details of their last train home.
As part of its strike contingency plans, Avanti West Coast will run one train per hour between Euston and each of Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Preston with four of the Preston trains extended to Glasgow.
These trains will operate during limited hours, with the first train of the day departing Euston just before 8am and the last train of the day from Euston departing mid-afternoon. The significantly reduced timetable will mean North Wales, Shrewsbury, Blackpool, and Edinburgh have no Avanti West Coast services on the strike days.
In addition, services on the days following the strikes (15 and 18 December) will start later. Trains running these days are likely to be extremely busy and a seat cannot be guaranteed, so customers are encouraged to get a full refund and rebook onto an alternative service.
Tickets for 13, 14, 16, 17 December can be used the day before the date on the ticket, or up to and including Tuesday 20 December.
Barry Milsom, Executive Director of Operations and Safety at Avanti West Coast, said: “This latest round of strike action is designed to cause maximum impact to our customers. At a crucial time of the year, when the railway plays a vital role, the RMT has shown no regard for those looking forward to spending time over the Festive period with their family and friends.
“We’re strongly advising customers to only travel where absolutely necessary on the days affected and if possible, claim a full refund. We understand some people will have no choice but to travel and they should check our website for the latest updates before making their journey.
“I would like to thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding and urge the unions to accept the offer that was put to them last week, and work with us to modernise working practices and develop a railway fit for the 21st century.”
Due to the different signalling system used by Network Rail on some parts of the West Coast Main Line, which is more resource-intensive to operate, the intercity operator is unable to stop trains at Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport, as well as Runcorn on the strike days and these stations will not be open.
Avanti West Coast will also not serve Wilmslow and Motherwell due to operational reasons.
Northern have also announced their schedule with a similar warning not to travel
Routes that will have services running – hourly between 7.30am and 6.30pm – include:
Leeds to Sheffield via Wakefield Westgate
Leeds to York via Micklefield
Leeds to Bradford Forster Square
Leeds to Skipton
Leeds to Ilkley
Liverpool to Manchester Airport
On Sunday, 11 December Northern’s new timetable comes into effect and all customers, especially those who have made regular journeys on the same train times, are advised to check online journey planners before they travel to ensure their service operates at the same time and calls at the same stations.
As part of an annual national timetable switch, Transpennine Express is making changes to services on some routes and adjusting the times of others.
The planned changes will see the reintroduction of services between Manchester and Scotland via the West Coast Mainline and the extension of Cleethorpes – Manchester services to Liverpool Lime Street via Warrington and Liverpool South Parkway.
