'Only travel if essential' warning issued over bank holiday rail strikes
Services to the capital city will be “significantly reduced”
A train operator is warning of disruption to its services over the bank holiday weekend because of a strike by workers in a dispute over safety.
A walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at East Midlands Railway (EMR) will hit services on Sunday and bank holiday Monday.
The company said it will run a “significantly reduced” timetable to and from London on both days, advising passengers to only travel if their journey is essential on these dates and to check before setting out.
Compounding the disruption is that this Sunday there will be no LNER trains between London King’s Cross and Peterborough as part of digital signalling upgrades being carried out by Network Rail.
As a result, EMR services to and from London St Pancras are expected to be extremely busy, with increased demand coinciding with a reduced service because of the strike action.
Sheffield station and Nottingham station will also be very busy and queues to board services will be in place.
The RMT has voiced concerns about safety issues and faults on some trains.
EMR said it continues to have “constructive discussions” with the RMT and has met with the union six times as it works towards resolving the issues.
Philippa Cresswell, customer experience director at EMR, said: “We recognise how frustrating this disruption will be for customers, particularly following the three Saturdays affected by RMT strike action earlier this month, and we are very sorry for the impact this will have on August bank holiday plans.
“We continue to have constructive discussions with the RMT and have met with the union six times as we work towards resolving the issues at the heart of this dispute.
“We strongly advise customers to only travel to or from London if their journey is essential on Sunday, August 30 and Monday, August 31, and to check their full journey, including first and last trains, before setting out.”
The union said its members are instructed to refuse to work a Class 810 train if a list of faults it has drawn up, including lack of air-con, door faults and non-working toilets, continue.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said the union would ensure representatives will be permanently involved in discussions with both EMR and manufacturer Hitachi to try to improve the situation.
“RMT is demanding that whilst these faults exist and until these trains are shown to be operating properly, they should be taken out of service,” he said.
“It is now time for EMR management to act on the safety concerns of our members.”