Rail passengers are being warned of strike action on the 5th, 7th and 9th of November and are advised to only travel by train if absolutely necessary.
The planned national rail strikes will take place on Saturday the 5th, Monday the 7th and Wednesday the 9th of November and will see an extreme reduction in rail services.
Saturday the 5th of November will see no train services operate between Peterborough and Doncaster with significantly limited services planned to operate between Doncaster and Edinburgh and Doncaster and Leeds.
Specially trained and fully qualified backup staff are coming forward to work where possible in order to keep essential services operating.
Monday the 7th and Wednesday the 9th of November will see limited services operating on the full East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh, these trains will operate between 7.30am and 6.30pm only.
The effects of the strike action will be felt from Saturday the 5th until Thursday the 10th of November with the days between strike actions seeing services start later or finish earlier than on normal operating days.
Passengers who have to travel should check with National Rail Enquiries or via their rail operator's website for the most up-to-date information which will allow passengers to plan ahead and discover the times of the last train of the day.
- Grand Central – Strike Information | Grand Central Rail
- Hull Trains – Industrial Action | Travel Information | Hull Trains
- LNER – Train strike dates, travel information and refunds | LNER
- Lumo – Innovative Electric Train Travel | Buy Train Tickets | Lumo
As the planned industrial action will impact the entire country it is expected that any trains that are operating will be extremely busy.
Information about the rail strikes is also available here: networkrail.co.uk/industrial-action
Further to the strike action, essential engineering work which will see track renewed and refreshed, the repair of the drainage in a major tunnel alongside the upgrade of crucial equipment between Peterborough and Doncaster will continue as planned taking place on the 5th and 6th of November. This upgrade work will create a more reliable railway for passengers once services return to normal.
The engineering work will be ongoing and will also take place on the 19th, 20th, 26th and 27th of November and passengers are advised once again to plan their travel ahead via National Rail Enquiries.
Essential Engineering work on Saturday 19 November will see the following changes:
- Buses will replace trains between Newark Castle and Lincoln and will run via Newark North Gate.
- Trains running between Leicester and Lincoln / Grimsby Town / Cleethorpes will be revised to run between Nottingham and Newark Castle, and then between Lincoln and Grimsby Town / Cleethorpes.
- Trains running between Newark North Gate and Lincoln will be cancelled.
- The 08:17 Newark North Gate to Cleethorpes service will start from Lincoln at 08:41. Rail replacement buses will run between Newark Castle and Lincoln, running via Newark North Gate.
- Trains running between Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street will operate as two separate services: Liverpool Lime Street to Nottingham, and Nottingham to Norwich, and will not call at Grantham. Customers are able to change trains at Nottingham.
- Rail replacement buses will operate between Nottingham and Peterborough, calling at Grantham.
For LNER:
- A reduced timetable will be in place throughout the day.
- There will be only one train each hour, in both directions between London King's Cross and Newcastle / Scotland. These services will run via a diversionary route between Peterborough and Doncaster and journey times will be up to one hour longer than usual.
- There will be only one train every two hours in each direction between London King's Cross and Leeds. These services will run using a diversionary route between Peterborough and Doncaster and journey times will be up to one hour longer than usual.
- Rail replacement coaches will be in operation between Peterborough and Doncaster and will also call at Grantham, Newark Northgate and Retford.
- Other LNER services will start from/terminate at Doncaster.
For Grand Central:
- An amended and reduced service will operate, with trains diverting via Lincoln / Hertford North, with journey times will be extended by up to 60 minutes.
For Hull Trains:
- An amended and reduced service will operate with trains diverting via Lincoln with extended journey times of up to one hour. Trains will not call at Beverley, Cottingham, Retford and Grantham.
For Lumo:
At this time it is not yet known if Lumo will be affected by the engineering work.
Essential Engineering work on Sunday 20th November will see the following changes:
For East Midlands Railway:
- Buses will replace trains between Newark Castle and Lincoln and will run via Newark North Gate.
- Trains operating between Nottingham and Lincoln / Cleethorpes will be altered to run between Nottingham and Newark Castle, and then between Lincoln and Cleethorpes.
- Trains operating between Newark North Gate and Lincoln will be cancelled.
- Trains operating between Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street will operate as two separate services: Liverpool Lime Street – Nottingham, and Nottingham – Norwich, and will not call at Grantham. Customers are able to change trains at Nottingham.
- Rail replacement buses will operate between Nottingham and Peterborough, calling at Grantham.
For LNER:
- A reduced timetable will be in place throughout the day.
- There will be only one train per hour in each direction between London King's Cross and Newcastle / Scotland. These services will run using an alternative route between Peterborough and Doncaster with journey times will be extended by up to one hour.
- There will be only one train every two hours in each direction between London King's Cross and Leeds. These services will run via a diversionary route between Peterborough and Doncaster and journey times will be up to one hour longer than usual.
- Rail replacement coaches will operate between Peterborough and Doncaster and will also call at Grantham, Newark Northgate and Retford.
- Other LNER services will start from/terminate at Doncaster.
For Grand Central:
- An amended and reduced service will operate, with trains diverting via Lincoln / Hertford North, and will see an increase in journey times of up to 60 minutes.
For Hull Trains:
- An amended and reduced service will operate with trains diverting via Lincoln with extended journey times of up to one hour. Trains will not call at Beverley, Cottingham, Retford and Grantham.
For Lumo:
At this time it is not yet known if Lumo will be affected by the engineering work.
Essential Engineering work on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November will see the following changes:
For Grand Central:
- An amended and reduced service will operate, with trains diverting via Lincoln / Hertford North, with journey times increased by up to 60 minutes.
For Hull Trains:
- An amended and reduced service will run, and trains will divert via Lincoln with extended journey times of up to one hour. Trains will not call at Beverley, Cottingham, Retford and Grantham.
For LNER:
- A reduced timetable will be in place throughout the day.
- There will be only one train per hour in both directions between London King's Cross and Newcastle / Scotland. These services will run using a diversionary route between Peterborough and Doncaster and will see journey times extended by up to one hour.
- There will be only one train every two hours in both directions between London King's Cross and Leeds. These services will run using a diversionary route between Peterborough and Doncaster and journey times will be extended by up to one hour.
- Rail replacement coaches will operate between Peterborough and Doncaster and will also call at Grantham, Newark Northgate and Retford.
- Other LNER services will start from/terminate at Doncaster.
For Lumo:
At this time it is not yet known if Lumo will be affected by the engineering work.
Paul Rutter, East Coast Route Director for Network Rail, said: “It's really disappointing that, once again, we're only able to offer passengers a very limited train service during the three days of national strike action.
“I'm sorry for the impact this will have on people's plans and would encourage anybody who really needs to travel by train to plan ahead, know their last train home, and to expect some significant disruption.
“I am pleased that we're able to push ahead with our important upgrades to eventually deliver more reliable, on-time journeys along a crucial section of the East Coast Main Line between Peterborough and Doncaster. Passengers should check before travelling over three weekends in November while we complete this work.”
