Passengers travelling to, from and within the Liverpool City Region are being urged to plan their journeys and check before they travel ahead of planned industrial action by members of Unite, GMB on Arriva bus services and RMT union on Merseyrail and Northern rail services.
Strike action is due to affect Arriva bus services on Monday 6th, Wednesday 8th, Monday 13th, Monday 20th and Monday 27th November.
Passengers should also be aware that strike action will affect Merseyrail and Northern rail services as well as Arriva bus services on Wednesday 8th November.
On 6th, 8th, 13th, 20th, 27th November, Arriva services in Merseyside will not be running with the exception of the 713 and the existing park and ride services in Southport.
Bus services by other operators including Stagecoach are due to run as normal.
On 8th November, Merseyrail services are planned to run every 30 minutes, with the exception of the New Brighton to Liverpool services which will be every hour, from around 7am to 7pm, with a break in service between around 1130 and 1430.
Passengers are strongly advised to check the Merseyrail website and Twitter feed before travelling, as it is possible that timetables will change prior to, as well as during, strike action.
Meanwhile, Northern will operate a reduced service, with the majority of trains operating between 7am and 7pm. They expect their services to be busy and passengers are again advised to check before they travel.
Northern trains are the only mainline rail services affected by strike action on Wednesday 8th November, other train operating companies including TransPennine Express, East Midlands Trains and London Midland will continue to operate as normal.
For the latest on Arriva services follow Arriva on Twitter on @arrivanorthwest and Facebook @northwestarriva for further information about the services relating to the strike dates.
Information is also online at https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-west/Latest/planned-industrial-action-by-arriva-drivers-in-the-north-west/ and customers can also enquire about their local bus service by contacting Arriva North West customer services on 0344 800 44 11.
For the latest on Merseyrail services visit www.merseyrail.org/strike use the Merseyrail App www.merseyrail.org/plan-your-journey/merseyrail-app.aspx
For the latest on Northern services visit www.northernrailway.co.uk/strike www.journeycheck.com/northernrail follow @northernassist on Twitter or call 0800 200 6060
For help with alternative journeys, use Merseytravel’s journey planner for travel options www.merseytravel.gov.uk/journeyplanner and get more details about routes and timetables at www.merseytravel.gov.uk/travellingaround . Information is also available on the website www.merseytravel.gov.uk/strikes
Visit www.stagecoach.com for information about their bus services which will be running as normal.
Said Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde, Managing Director at Merseyrail: “While yet another strike is one too many for customers, we are pleased that over the forthcoming day of industrial action, we will be able to run more trains than on previous strike days. For the first time, we will be in a position to service the Kirkby line, and will also be running trains to and from Liverpool South Parkway. But, as unions are also holding a bus strike that day, demand for trains is likely to be even higher. We strongly urge passengers to check our website and social media feeds before travelling and allow plenty of time for their journeys.
‘It’s now seven months since the first strike on Merseyrail in this dispute about the new trains. The project to bring these much needed new electric trains to our network continues to gather pace and momentum, with testing due in 2019, and delivery throughout 2020.’
Sharon Keith, Northern Regional Director said: “We are doing all we can to keep customers on the move on 8th November and will run over 1,300 services on our busier routes between 0700 and 1900. This is our highest service level yet on an RMT strike day.
“Rail replacement bus services are available on some routes where trains aren’t running and we ask everyone to plan ahead and keep checking services on our website.
“Information is being displayed on posters at stations and our colleagues will be across the network supporting customers on their journeys with any help or information they may need.”
Frank Rogers, Chief Executive of Merseytravel said: “We’re working closely with transport providers to support the travelling public and will continue to provide as much information as possible. We are once again calling on our customers, both local and from further afield, to help keep the City Region moving by checking timetables and planning journeys whether it’s by rail, bus, ferry or car.”
Phil Stone, Regional Managing Director for Arriva North West: “We would like to reassure customers that we will continue to do all we can to resolve the situation and wholeheartedly apologise for the inconvenience that this will cause. We want to also remind them to continue to check their routes before they travel.”
Rob Jones, Managing Director of Stagecoach Merseyside, Chester and South Lancashire, said: “Our services will be running as normal on the strike days, with increased capacity where possible on key routes. We expect our services to be busier than usual but rest assured we will be doing all that we can to keep passengers moving.”