Bank Holiday travel: CrossCountry rail passengers facing significant disruption from Birmingham
Passengers hoping to use services operated by CrossCountry over the bank holiday weekend are being warned that there will be no trains on Saturday due to industrial action and repair work.
The long-distance operator said there will be significant disruption to its services due to the expected action by National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) members including train managers and senior conductors on Saturday and Monday.
It said passengers are strongly advised to travel either side of the bank holiday weekend and that a very limited service will operate on August 25 between 8am and 6pm. As a result travellers should check journeys carefully before departing and expect all services to be busy.
There will be no CrossCountry service between Birmingham, Reading and the South Coast, and no service between Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.
There will only be a very limited service to the South West and north of York.
On Monday, planned engineering work in the West Midlands will also impact the CrossCountry services that do run, meaning some journeys will take longer.
CrossCountry’s managing director Shiona Rolfe said: “We are disappointed for our passengers that the RMT has announced strikes on Saturday 23 and Monday 25 August. It is hugely disappointing to not operate any services on Saturday, knowing the inevitable disruption to many of our passengers’ journeys over the bank holiday weekend. We are committed to reaching an agreement with the RMT and remain available to continue talks.”
All passengers planning to travel with CrossCountry this weekend should check its website or with National Rail Enquiries.
The union has held a number of planned strikes this year in the ongoing dispute.
