Mansfield trains to Nottingham replaced by buses during strike action

The industrial action is being taken by engineering and maintenance staff in Derby, Leeds and Nottingham in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Tne majority of services will run as normal to and from London, Nottingham to Liverpool, Nottingham to Skegness and Derby to Crewe, while replacement bus services will run on other routes. A full timetable is available to download at eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

Tim Sayer, engineering director for East Midlands Trains, said: “We’re very disappointed that Unite has chosen to take this course of action, clearly attempting to cause disruption to our customers during the start of the main summer holiday season.

“This action will ultimately hit the pockets of Unite’s members and will see no winners.

“We have put forward a very reasonable and fair offer to our engineering staff, representing a 2.75 per cent pay increase, and are extremely surprised that this offer has been rejected.”

The union called on the management to get around the table to improve on the ‘paltry’ 2.75 per cent pay offer for the year April 2014 – April 2015 – which has now been taken off the table by the bosses.

Unite regional officer Mick Millichamp said: “Our members have worked hard for this company adapting to the many changes asked of them. However, they were very disappointed with the current paltry pay offer, now withdrawn, at a time when household bills are going through the roof.

“The management has not applied equal treatment to this group of workers as other groups of employees have received greater improvements to their terms and conditions.

“The timing of this dispute was set by the employer’s failure to recognise Unite members’ legitimate grievances. It is regrettable that this employer has failed to build on the co-operation and goodwill Unite members demonstrated last year when extensive line work was carried out and the workforce at Nottingham and Derby carried out all maintenance work at the Derby depot.

“Unite believes that a large number of the working public will relate to unfair treatment and being undervalued in the workplace. We would welcome constructive talks with the management with a view to securing a better pay deal.”

The majority of services will continue to run as normal to/from London, although a number of services may operate with fewer carriages than normal.

The normal planned timetable will also run between Nottingham and Liverpool, Derby and Crewe and for holiday makers and day-trippers travelling between Nottingham, Grantham and Skegness.

Paqssengers are advised to visit www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk to download a copy of the revised timetable or follow Twitter @EMTrains using #EMTupdate for further updates. East Midlands Trains’ tickets will be accepted on Cross Country services between Peterborough and Ely and from Derby to Nottingham.

For information on using local bus services, please contact Traveline on 0871 200 22 33.

Customers with advance tickets for services which will not run should use their ticket on the revised EMT train services as close as possible to the original time booked.

If you decide not to travel you can apply for a refund. Tickets are refunded at the place where the ticket was bought. If your tickets were bought via East Midlands Trains by phone, they need to be sent back to: Refunds, East Midlands Trains Customer Service Centre, Overline House, Southampton Central Station, Southampton, SO15 1AL.

If they were bought on the website, they need to be sent back to: East Midlands Trains, Refunds Department, PO Box 23972, Edinburgh, EH3 5DA.

If they have not yet been collected and were bought online, you can request a refund by going to the website, logging into your account, going to the order status and refund applications section.

The conditions of some tickets may mean that they cannot be refunded, in this instance call 0370 333 4875.