Rail passengers across the Midlands are being warned to expect severe disruption to their travel plans throughout December, as a series of planned strikes by the RMT union is set to bring significant parts of the CrossCountry network to a standstill.
The industrial action, involving union members in customer service roles, is scheduled for four key Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas: the 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th of December. The timing is expected to cause maximum disruption for those travelling to festive events, including Christmas markets and football matches.
What Services Will Be Affected?
The impact of the RMT industrial action will be widespread across the CrossCountry network. The company has confirmed that while a limited service will operate on some core routes, many parts of the network will have no services at all.
On Saturday, 6th December, a reduced service will run between key hubs including Birmingham and Manchester, Birmingham and Reading, Birmingham and Bristol, and Birmingham and Derby. A skeleton service will also operate between Derby, Leeds, and Edinburgh.
However, passengers on the following routes should expect no CrossCountry trains:
- Bristol, Plymouth and Penzance
- Bournemouth and Reading
- Newton Abbot and Paignton
- Edinburgh and Glasgow
- Edinburgh and Aberdeen
- Derby and Nottingham
- Birmingham to Stansted Airport via Leicester, Peterborough and Cambridge
- Cheltenham Spa and Cardiff
Earlier Finishes and Revised Stops
For the services that do run, passengers are being advised to prepare for challenging conditions. Trains are expected to be significantly busier than usual, and all services will finish much earlier in the day.
Compounding the problems, there will be revised calling patterns at several stations, meaning some trains will not stop at their usual locations. Affected stations include:
- Stockport and Macclesfield
- Wolverhampton and Birmingham International
- Coventry and Oxford
- Basingstoke and Worcestershire Parkway
- Alnmouth, Morpeth, and Durham
- Wakefield Westgate
Planned engineering work on the network will also mean that some journeys will take longer than usual, even if a service is operating.
Rail Company Expresses Disappointment
Shiona Rolfe, CrossCountry’s Managing Director, expressed her frustration at the announcement. “We are disappointed that the RMT has announced more industrial action that will disrupt customers over the busy Christmas period,” she said.
“We’ve worked hard to make a fair and reasonable offer that addresses the key points raised in this dispute, and we believe we’ve made meaningful progress in negotiations. Our priority is now minimising disruption for those travelling on Saturdays in December – but while we will try to run as many services as possible, there will inevitably be significant disruption.”
Passengers are strongly advised to check the CrossCountry website for the latest travel information before setting out on any of the affected Saturdays and to plan their return journeys carefully, considering the early finish to services.
