Five-day train strike has the potential to bring chaos as commuters in the north return to work

Train strikes for five days in the first week of January have the potential to bring commuters to a standstill.

Rail workers, who are members of Aslef and RMT unions, have announced the next round of strikes will run between Tuesday January 3 until Saturday, January 7, with the potential of disruption running into Sunday, January 8.

Network operator and infrastructure group Rail Delivery Group said that on all five days of the strike, if running at all, trains will start later and finish much earlier than usual, between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Five days of disruption

RMT will be striking for four days with Aslef striking for one day – meaning five days with disruption to rail services in the first week of January when there is a return to work for many after the festive season.

ScotRail has already confirmed it will run no trains to Aberdeen or Inverness, or outside of the Central Belt, during the strikes.

Rail passengers are reminded to:

• Only travel if it is absolutely necessary during this time.
• Allow extra time and check when their first and last trains will depart.
• There may also be some possible disruption to services on Sunday January 8 as workers return to duties.

Thousands of specially trained and fully qualified back-up staff will step in during the RMT walkouts on January 3-4 and 6-7 to keep vital services elsewhere in the country running for those who need them.

Meanwhile, the RMT has an overtime ban in place at 14 train operating companies until January 2, that will continue to affect the level of cancellations and the punctuality of some services.

Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “No one wants to see these strikes go ahead, and we can only apologise to passengers and to the many businesses who will be hit by this unnecessary and damaging disruption.

“We would advise passengers to only travel if it is absolutely necessary during this period, allow extra time and check when their first and last train will depart. Passengers with tickets for between 3-7 January can use their ticket the day before the ticket date, or up to and including Tuesday 10 January.

“This dispute will only be resolved by agreeing the long overdue reforms to working arrangements needed to put the industry on a sustainable footing, rather than unions condemning their members to losing more pay in the new year.”

Can I get a refund on my ticket?

Tickets for 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 January can be used the day before the date on the ticket, or up to and including Tuesday, January 10.

There is also likely to be some disruption in the early morning of Sunday, January 8 as workers return to duties.

Passengers with Advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.

If the Advance ticket is for a train scheduled for a strike day, but it is not cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, and a customer prefers not to travel, they should contact their ticket retailer.

Customers with 2 x Advance tickets (an outbound and a return), to be used as a return journey, may be able to get a fee-free refund or change of journey for any unused legs/tickets, if wither of the legs is scheduled for a strike day.