Rail passengers planning travel through Birmingham New Street station during upcoming strike action by multiple rail workers’ unions before and after Christmas are being warned not to get caught out with limited trains running over reduced hours. Members of the RMT, TSSA and Unite unions will all take industrial action next week on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December.
This will involve national walkouts from staff at Network Rail and impact all train operators at Britain’s busiest station outside of London. On those dates:
- All train operators at Birmingham New Street station will be impacted by the strike action
- A special timetable will be in operation with up to nine trains per hour leaving the station
- That's compared to an average of 40 departures an hour on a non-strike weekday
- Trains will run from 7am and last trains will leave between 3pm and 5pm with final arrivals by 6.30pm
- Birmingham New Street station will close completely at 7pm on strike days
Passengers should expect disruption from 18 December until 2 January, with wide variations on service provision, due to an overtime ban across 14 train operating companies imposed by the RMT.
Christmas Eve will also see services stop significantly earlier than usual because of further strikes announced by the RMT. As well as checking www.nationalrail.co.uk on impacts to journeys, rail travellers should also visit individual train operators to find out how the strike action is affecting their services.
- Avanti West Coast’s information page
- West Midlands Railways' information page
- London Northwestern Railway's information page
- CrossCountry’s information page
- Transport for Wales’ information page
- Chiltern Railways' information page
Denise Wetton, Network Rail’s Central route director, said: “It’s hugely disappointing that despite months of negotiations and an improved offer by us to settle our dispute with the RMT, these strikes are still going ahead in a deliberate attempt to ruin Christmas for millions of passengers trying to see loved ones and businesses who rely on festive trade at this crucial time of year.
“As with every other strike day, we will continue to run the best service possible for those people whose travel is absolutely necessary, but with services extremely limited I’d urge people to really consider other options. Any trains which do run will be very busy and will finish by early evening.”
Passengers planning on travelling into Birmingham and wider West Midlands on strike days should only do so if absolutely necessary. Those who still must travel should check www.nationalrail.co.uk so they know exactly what to expect.
