By Joshua Robinson –
CrossCountry customers are being warned of rail disruption due to planned industrial action by the ASLEF union between Friday 1st and Saturday 9th December.
A nine-day overtime ban for CrossCountry drivers belonging to the ASLEF union may result in short-notice changes or cancellations to train services during the period.
On Saturday 2nd December, strike action by other train operators is likely to lead to busier CrossCountry services between Birmingham and Edinburgh via Sheffield and between Birmingham and Cambridge via Leicester.
There are planned strikes on Sunday 3rd December affecting Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, London Northwestern, and West Midlands Trains.
As a result, CrossCountry services between Manchester and Reading via the West Midlands are likely to be very busy. Planned engineering work will also impact services between Edinburgh and Sheffield.
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Customers are being advised to only travel if essential and leave more time for their journey. Services on Sunday 3rd December are expected to be significantly busier than usual and queueing systems may be in place for customers at some stations.
On Thursday 7th December, no CrossCountry services will operate during a one-day strike by the ASLEF union.
Mark Goodall, CrossCountry’s Service Delivery Director, said: ” We’re sorry to customers impacted by this latest round of industrial action. While we’re working hard to run as many services as possible over these days, there is likely to be significant disruption for people planning to travel – especially on Sunday 3 December.”
“I’d ask customers to check their whole journey before setting off, especially if travelling later in the day. Customers can visit the CrossCountry website or National Rail Enquiries for the latest travel information.”
Full details of service levels on strike days are available to view at: www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-updates-information/changes-to-train-times/industrial-action
Delay repayment, refund and ticket acceptance information are available at the same link.