CrossCountry trains to Leeds and Wakefield Westgate to face 'significant disruption'
CrossCountry customers are being warned of significant travel disruption this Saturday despite the suspension of planned industrial action by the RMT union.
The strike would have seen union members - including Train Managers and Senior Conductors - declining to work. Although after discussions the union has agreed to suspend the strike on Saturday, October 18, although it is too late to reinstate a normal timetable.
This means that although the strike has been suspended, a significantly reduced number of CrossCountry services will be able to run to the South West, South Coast and north of York. Impacting services from Leeds and Wakefield Westgate.
Though trains will run with as many carriages as possible, services are expected to be significantly busier than usual and will also cease much earlier in the day - so passengers are advised to plan return journeys carefully.
CrossCountry’s Managing Director, Shiona Rolfe, said: “Though we are pleased to have made progress in our negotiations with RMT colleagues, I am sincerely sorry for the significant disruption that customers will nonetheless experience this Saturday 18 October.
“Timetabling processes require train operators to finalise planned services several days in advance, which means that we are not able to reinstate a normal timetable for CrossCountry services in time for Saturday.
“I would urge all those planning to travel on CrossCountry routes this Saturday to check options to change or cancel their journey at no cost on the CrossCountry website.”
The disruption means that no CrossCountry services will call at Coventry, Wolverhampton, Durham, Chesterfield, Basingstoke, Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnmouth, Worcestershire Parkway, Wakefield Westgate, or Morpeth, with customers encouraged to instead use shorter-distance services.
There will be no services between Birmingham, Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted and Nottingham to Cardiff. In the Southwest, there will be no services south of Bristol and in Scotland there will be no services north of Edinburgh.
The following reduction in services is set to be in place. Full details can be found on the CrossCountry website.
- Services between Birmingham and Manchester will run every two hours.
- Services between Birmingham and Bristol will run every two hours and Bristol and Birmingham every 1.5 hours.
- Services between Birmingham, Leeds and York will run every two hours (with two services extending to Edinburgh and two services starting from Edinburgh).
- Services between Birmingham and Reading will run every three hours (with one service extending to Southampton).
- Services between Reading and Birmingham will run every two hours (with one service starting at Southampton).