Train drivers’ strikes, staff shortage and engineering work will trigger tens of thousands of rail cancellations and delayed journeys between now and the end of the year.
A nine-day overtime ban by train drivers belonging to the Aslef union begins on Friday 1 December.
The following day a series of rolling strikes by train drivers begins, targeting different regions of the country on different days. The aim is to cause maximum disruption while each driver loses only one day’s pay.
Journeys involving more than one train operator or region during the week of strikes are likely to be fraught.
Even without industrial action, planned engineering work and a shortage of staff at some train operators will disrupt journeys until the New Year.
Passengers in the north of England, on the East Midlands Railway main line and the East Coast main line will be particularly hard hit.
This weekend, 18 and 19 November, will see the main Leeds-London line closed between Leeds and Doncaster. No trains will run to or from Wakefield Westgate, and Leeds-London journeys will take longer.
Next weekend, 26 and 27 November, the East Coast main line – which connects London King’s Cross with Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland – will be blocked between Doncaster and York for what Network Rail calls “reliability upgrades”.
Only half the usual number of Anglo-Scottish trains will run, and journey times will be extended by around an hour as trains are re-routed via Leeds.
For the remainder of November the East Midlands Railway main line from Sheffield, Derby and Leicester to London St Pancras will be blocked on Sundays south of Leicester for electrification work.
Rail disruption will peak over the first weekend of December when train drivers’ strikes coincide with major engineering work.
The Aslef overtime ban will start causing cancellations from Friday 1 December.
On Saturday 2 December the targets are LNER, the main operator on the East Coast main line, and East Midlands Railway. Both are likely to run only a skeleton service.
The following day, Sunday 3 December, is likely to be chaotic for anyone trying to travel north-south. Almost all services on the West Coast main line, which connects London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland, will be halted by the day’s Aslef strike.
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