Full list of routes and times rail strikes will affect services next week
SOME train services will finish as early as lunchtime during next week’s strikes on Britain’s train network.
It comes after rail bosses unveiled a new map of misery showing how only half of the country’s network will be open next week.
More than 50,000 railway staff will walkout later this month in the biggest dispute on the network in 33 years.
National strikes are planned across British railways starting on Tuesday, June 21, Thursday, June 23, and Saturday, June 25, 2022.
Network Rail said that 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.
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And incredibly, the last train from Edinburgh to London on the East Coast Main Line will stop running at lunchtime at 1.30pm.
The last trains to leave major cities from London on the three strike days will be at 2pm to Edinburgh, 2.56pm to Manchester, 3.05pm to Leeds, 3.31pm to Liverpool or Sheffield, 3.40pm to Birmingham.
There is also the 3.43pm to Newcastle, 4.09pm to Nottingham, 4.30pm to Norwich, 4.33pm to Bristol, 5pm to Southampton and 5.50pm to Brighton.
Those travelling to London airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton or Southend will see some services, but only during the limited hours
While Heathrow trains could be axed next Tuesday due to the separate Tube strike.
Lines will only be open between 7.30am and 6.30pm, meaning services will start later and finish earlier than usual.
And the number of passenger services on those days is expected to be limited to around 4,500 compared with 20,000 normally.
Only around 12,000 to 14,000 services will be able to run on the days following the strikes – those being next Wednesday, Friday and Sunday – because signallers and control staff will not work overnight shifts that begin on the strike dates.
That means trains will not be able to leave depots for several hours later than normal.
The strike comes after Network Rail and train operating companies are putting staff on pay freezes and plan to cut thousands of jobs.
RMT claims these cuts will make the railways unsafe.
There have been many talks between the union and organisation to secure a pay proposal or a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, but they have all been unsuccessful.
Head of union, Michael Lynch insisted that they “don’t want to cause misery“.
He said: “We’ve got a cost of living crisis and our workers have been working throughout the pandemic and their reward has been a pay freeze.
“I understand the anger of people – but I also understand the anger of our workers.
“We’re not holding the public hostage – but we’re not going to accept the poverty of our members.
Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said the strikes have been timed to cause “maximum disruption”.
Tim Shoveller, the organisation’s managing director for the North West and Central region, said: “The service that we can offer to passengers in the mornings is going to be very limited.
“Even on the intermediate days we won’t be able to operate anything like a full service with the normal amount of capacity or frequency of trains.
“That’s what gives rise to effectively six days of disruption.”
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Train operator Northern urged passengers “not to travel” between Tuesday and Sunday.
While Southeastern said its customers should “only travel by rail if necessary” on the three strike days.