Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Avanti West Coast participated in walkouts following an ongoing dispute over rest day working and pay.
The industrial action will primarily affect passengers travelling in and out of London Euston to major cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, and those using the rail firm in North Wales, Lancashire and Cumbria.
Ahead of the strikes, Avanti urged customers to travel on either side of Sunday until the final scheduled industrial walkout on 25 May.
Trains which will run are expected to be busy. With planned engineering works taking place on most of these Sundays, timetables for each strike date may vary and take longer to be finalised.
Rail passengers using Avanti West Coast services face major travel disruption due to industrial action (Photo: Carl Court/Getty)A limited service ran between Glasgow and Carlisle. Rail replacement buses also ran between Carlisle and Preston due to planned engineering work.
North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield will have no Avanti West Coast services due to the significantly reduced timetable.
Customers who do travel should plan ahead, expect disruption, and check the details of their last train home, said Avanti.
How is Avanti’s schedule affected this Sunday?
A timetable for Sunday 19 January will be published on Monday.
Anyone who booked to travel with Avanti West Coast on a strike day before the industrial action was announced on 17 December can use their tickets to travel on alternative travel dates.
The RMT union said the reason for strike action was a “severe staffing shortage” and an “over-reliance on overtime” at Avanti West Coast, which means replacement managers are being paid up to £500 a shift and double what the union’s members receive.
Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary, said: “It is wrong that Avanti is paying replacement managers up to £500 per shift — around double what our members earn — while these managers fail to deliver the same service for passengers.
RMT union members outside Liverpool Lime Street on Sunday (Photo: RMT)“Avanti could make better use of its resources by reaching a fair settlement with our members, which would also be far more cost-effective.
“Avanti needs to table a revised offer that meets the aspirations of our members. We remain ready to negotiate and reach a fair deal.“
How has Avanti responded?
The rail company has warned customers its services will be “significantly disrupted” after the walkout by RMT members.
Kathryn O’Brien, executive director of customer experience at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re disappointed by the RMT calling strike action for an extended period when our customers may be working, visiting family and friends, or enjoying days out.
“On the strike days we’ll have a reduced service, so customers with tickets for those days are strongly advised to travel on alternative dates or claim a full fee-free refund. We remain open to working with the RMT to resolve the dispute.”
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