Northern Trains issues ‘do not travel’ guidance due to strikes

Strikes by two trade unions, the RMT and ASLEF, will bring services, that stop at Morpeth and Chathill, to a halt from Tuesday to Saturday January 3-7.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “This is a most regrettable start to 2023 and we can only apologise to our customers whose return to work from the holidays will be disrupted by the action by the RMT and ASLEF.

“For many, Monday, January 9 will be their first experience of our new timetable – which went live in December and includes an additional 3,000 services a week across our network.”

Northern are encouraging people to keep up to date with services during strikes and timetable changes through the ‘check my timetable’ feature on their website.

The industrial action taking place includes two 48-hour walk outs by the RMT on 3-4 and 6-7 January; and ASLEF members staging a one-day strike on January 5.

Meanwhile, members of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) at CrossCountry started a 24-hour strike at 9pm yesterday (Boxing Day) as part of a long-running campaign for a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which addresses the rising cost of living.

The TSSA union believes that walkouts by staff will severely affect services at CrossCountry, which covers large swathes of the country, from Penzance to the Midlands, Wales and northern England through to Scottish cities as far north as Aberdeen.

TSSA members work in roles in customer service management, driver management, training, control, customer communications, safety, timetabling and planning. Managers are based at stations including Newcastle and Edinburgh.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "After two years of virtual Christmases, the British public deserve better than to have their festive celebrations impacted by strikes.

"The Transport Secretary and Rail Minister have worked hard to facilitate a fair and reasonable offer, which two unions have accepted, and it is incredibly disappointing that some continue to strike.

"We urge them to step back, reconsider and get back round the table, so we can start 2023 by ending this damaging dispute."