A week of disruption on the rails

RAIL passengers face disruption this weekend and all next week.

Neither East Midlands Railway (EMR) nor Crosscountry will run services on Wednesday because of the latest industrial action by train drivers’ union Aslef. Union members will also be taking part in an overtime ban between Monday and Saturday, May 11, which may cause disruption to services.

During the strike period, customers are advised to check their full journey, including first and last trains, before travelling due to strikes impacting several train operators on different days.

Will Rogers, managing director of EMR, said: “This approach from the Aslef union means different parts of the network and different train operating companies are affected at different times.

“Unfortunately, we cannot run any services on Wednesday. However, during the days affected by action short of strike, we plan to run a normal timetable. Customers are advised to check our website to understand how their whole journey is affected before setting off and expect possible disruption or late notice cancellations.”

Customers should allow extra time for their journey tomorrow as services to and from London St Pancras International will be affected by engineering works.

Work is taking place between London St Pancras International and Luton, closing some lines to and from the capital, while West Coast Mainline engineering works will mean no services between Milton Keynes and London Euston. Although a reduced EMR timetable will be in operation, it said it has added carriages to the services to provide as many seats as possible.