Commuters hit by strike
COMMUTERS have endured two days of railway strike misery, with one further day of action planned for Friday this week.
Northern Rail has had to cancel nearly half of its services during three days of industrial action on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week.
Northern has been running around 1,350 of its 2,500 services each day across the north of England - most between 7am and 7pm - and commuters have been advised to allow extra time to travel and plan carefully, especially at rush hour.
On strike days, the first train to Blackburn and Preston leaves Accrington at 7.34am, with the last train back leaving Preston at 5.30pm and Blackburn at 6.42pm.
The last train from Manchester to Accrington leaves at 6.56pm, 8.30pm.
This week’s disruption comes days after passengers were hit by rail fare increases.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are in dispute with the company over the role of train guards.
Sharon Keith, regional director at Northern, said: “We are doing all we can to keep our customers on arriving at the move and are focusing on running as many trains as possible between 7am and 7pm to get people to work and home again.”
If you experience a delay in excess of 30 minutes, you can claim compensation with Northern’s Delay Repay scheme via Northern’s website or by filling in a delay form which can be obtained at any staffed station.