Blackpool & Fylde coast rail commuters braced for travel chaos due to strike action

Blackpool & Fylde coast rail commuters are bracing themselves for travel chaos due to a series of strikes beginning tomorrow (Saturday, October 1).

Strike action will significantly affect services, with most lines closed with no train services or alternatives.

Avanti West Coast

‘The ASLEF, RMT and TSSA unions have announced strike action on 1 October, coordinated across other train companies and Network Rail. ASLEF are also striking on 5 October, with RMT and TSSA striking additionally on 8 October.

Due to the industrial action by drivers and traincrew on 1 October and by drivers on 5 October, please do not attempt to travel on Avanti West Coast – we will not be running any services on our routes and many of our stations will be closed.

Due to the action by traincrew and station staff on 8 October, customers should expect our existing timetable to be reduced significantly and those services that do run are expected to be very busy. We strongly advise you to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on 8 October. If your journey is essential, please plan ahead as your entire journey will likely be severely disrupted. The days after industrial action will also be affected. We will announce revised timetables as soon as possible.

Customers with tickets dated 1 to 9 October can claim a full refund from their point of purchase or can use those tickets anytime between now and 10 October.

To minimise the number of people disrupted while our amended timetables are finalised, we suspend sales of tickets for strike dates and the affected days after industrial action. Once each day's timetable is confirmed and we know which trains are running, some Advance fares will be back on sale.

Customers should continue to check our website, and those of other operators, for updates. We’re disappointed with this industrial action and we are sorry for the inconvenience it will cause.’

Northern

‘There will be no Northern train services running on Saturday 1st and Wednesday 5th October because of nationwide strikes called by ASLEF and RMT unions.

A further strike day by the RMT on Saturday 8th October will see an extremely limited availability of both Northern services and staff. As such we will not be able to operate services on most routes. Our main priority is the safety and welfare of our customers, so we're advising you not to travel on 8th of October and to make alternative plans.

We're not able to provide replacement buses or replacement travel on any of the three strike days.

We also expect some disruption to services on Sunday 2nd and Sunday 9th October, especially in the morning, so please check before you travel on these days.

Timetables for the very limited services on 8th October will be available soon at www.northernrailway.co.uk/strikes , expect severe disruption and plan ahead. Train services may be subject to short notice cancellations, so we advise you to check back close to the time if you absolutely must travel.’

TransPennine Express

‘We have been notified of new strike dates affecting services on Saturday 1 October, Wednesday 5 October and Saturday 8 October 2022. While a very limited service will be running on some lines, we are advising customers to only travel during the strike action if journeys are essential. We also expect travel to be disrupted the day after a planned strike so check before you travel.

Journey planners have been amended with our revised timetable for all three strike days and days following strike days.

We will continue to provide customers with information about the impact of the industrial action on our services as soon as possible. We’re disappointed with this industrial action, and we are very sorry for the inconvenience it will cause.’