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Monday 12 Dec 2022

East Coast Main Line passengers warned to only travel by train if necessary

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

• Rail passengers are being warned of severe disruption on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December as the RMT, TSSA and Unite stage strike action
• A special, reduced timetable is planned to run along the East Coast Main Line, with trains starting later and finishing much earlier than usual, between 7.30am and 6.30pm
• Passengers should expect disruption, plan ahead and only travel if it’s absolutely necessary

Rail passengers are being warned to expect disruption and to only travel by train if it’s absolutely necessary this December as multiple unions stage strike action.

On 13, 14, 16 and 17 December, a reduced service is planned to run along the East Coast Main Line – which connects London King’s Cross, Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh – between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Train operators affected by an overtime ban will also mean reduced services between Sunday 18 December and Monday 2 January. Passengers should check with their train operator for the latest information:

• Great Northern / Thameslink
• LNER
• Grand Central
• Lumo
• Hull Trains

During this period, services are likely to be extremely busy and subject to last minute cancellations. Passengers are being urged to only travel by train if it’s absolutely necessary, know their last train home and to expect severe disruption.

The latest timetables can be found on National Rail Enquiries.

Paul Rutter, East Coast Route Director for Network Rail said: “Unfortunately, we need to ask passengers to prepare for some significant disruption to train services this winter.

“Along the East Coast Main Line, we’ll be running as many trains as we can, but this will be very limited and services that do run are likely to be much busier and may be cancelled at short notice.

“Please check your journey before setting off, know your last train times and expect disruption.”

Additional strike dates have also been announced by the RMT between Christmas Eve and 27 December. The railway will be closed as usual on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Further strikes are planned for 3, 4, 6 and 7 January, so passengers should plan ahead and check networkrail.co.uk/industrial-action for the latest updates.

ENDS