UK

Three-day rail strike to cause six days of disruption, Network Rail warns

Network Rail has warned that the three-day train strike next week will cause six days of disruption to services.

More than 40,000 staff at Network Rail and 13 train operators are expected to walk out next week on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June in a dispute over pay and redundancies.

Network Rail said the six days of disruption are due to the impact on services on the days in between the strikes.

The company said on lines that are open, services will operate from 7.30am to 6.30pm only and not all stations will be served.

It has advised passengers “who must travel” to “plan ahead” to ensure they can complete their journeys within this window.

Detail of Map Indicative strike passenger services map - June 2022 (final)

The map above indicates which lines are still operating during the strike period.

No passenger services will serve locations such as Penzance in Cornwall, Bournemouth in Dorset, Swansea in South Wales, Holyhead in North Wales, Chester in Cheshire and Blackpool, Lancashire.

There will also be no passenger trains running north from Glasgow or Edinburgh and the last trains to and from London will be much earlier than normal.

strike  Indicative strike passenger services map - June 2022 (final)

Open lines include the West Coast Main Line from London to Scotland via locations such as Birmingham and Manchester.

Talks aimed at averting crippling strikes on the railways are continuing but with little hope of a last-minute deal to avert industrial action which will lead to travel chaos next week.

A number of large events including Glastonbury Festival, which runs from 22 to 26 June could be affected by the strikes.

Read more:
What train lines and big events will be hit?

The number of passenger services on the strike days is expected to be limited to around 4,500 compared with 20,000 normally.

Network Rail said it wants to cut between 1,500 and 2,000 frontline jobs in a bid to reduce costs, improve safety and boost productivity.

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive said: “Talks have not progressed as far as I had hoped and so we must prepare for a needless national rail strike and the damaging impact it will have”.

The RMT and Unite are also taking part in industrial action which will affect the London Underground on 21 June.

Network Rail said only around half of Britain’s rail network will be open on strike days with a very limited service running on lines.

On the days following the strike, the company says only around 12,000-14,000 services due to signallers and control staff not working overnight shifts that begin on the strike dates.