Strike will hit Northern rail passengers this weekend

Train operator Northern says it again expects to run only about 30 per cent of services on Saturday because of another strike by members of the RMT union in a long-running dispute over guards.

Northern has released details of amended timetables ahead of planned RMT strike action on Saturday (September 1).

The strike action, together with some cancellations on Sunday September 2, will see Northern running reduced timetables across the weekend.

Full details of Northern’s timetables for the RMT strike on Saturday 1 September can be found online at northernrailway.co.uk/strike or at nationalrail.co.uk.

On Saturday Northern expects to run around 30 per cent of services with customers advised to plan carefully if they intend to travel on the rail network.

On Sunday there will be planned cancellations on a small minority of routes, primarily in the north west, and again customers should check up to the last minute before travelling.

Liam Sumpter, Regional Director for Northern, said: “We are doing all we can to keep our customers on the move and are focussing on running as many trains as possible. Customers should, however, be aware that there will be very few services running before 9am or after 6pm.

“Unfortunately, on some routes, we won’t be able to run services, while others will have a limited service. On those routes where we are able to operate trains, we expect all services to be extremely busy. We will also have replacement bus services available on some routes where trains aren’t running.

“We ask everyone to take time to plan their journeys carefully, allow extra time for travel and regularly check for service updates on our website.”

Ongoing engineering work in and around Manchester will also see some disruption to services, particularly between Manchester and Preston and Manchester and Liverpool.

This weekend sees a several major events taking place throughout the north of England and customers are reminded of the impact the amended timetables will have on travel to and from those events.

Saturday 1 September

Blackpool Illuminations/Britney Spears at Blackpool

PRESTON to BLACKPOOL SOUTH – One train per hour to and from Preston – last train from Blackpool South is at 18:49

PRESTON TO BLACKPOOL NORTH – Two buses per hour to and from Preston with some trains from Blackpool North. Last train to Preston is at 19:36

LIVERPOOL – No direct trains or rail replacement buses to and from Liverpool

Bingley Music Live

SKIPTON – Three trains per hour to and from Skipton – last train from Bingley is at 19:16

LEEDS – Two trains per hour to and from Leeds. Last train from Bingley is at 19:07

BRADFORD – One train per hour to and from Bradford Forster Square – last train to Bradford Forster Square is at 16:24

Hull Freedom Festival

SHEFFIELD/DONCASTER – One train per hour to and from Sheffield/Doncaster – last train from Hull is at 18:27

YORK – Very few rail replacement buses between York and Brough (three each way) with three rail services each way between Brough and Hull. Last train from Hull is at 16:27 with the last rail replacement bus from Brough at 16:54

BRIDLINGTON – Limited rail service between Bridlington and Hull (eight services each way). Last train from Hull is at 17:18

Chester Races Ladies Day

STOCKPORT/ALTRINCHAM – Very few rail replacement buses (three each way) to and from Chester – last bus from Chester is at 15:15

Beverley Races – Beverley Bullet

BRIDLINGTON – Limited rail service between Bridlington and Beverley (eight services each way). Last train from Beverley is at 17:32

HULL - Limited rail service between Bridlington and Beverley (eight services each way). Last train from Beverley is at 18:47