How will the rail strikes affect the Midlands over the weekend?
Train services across the Midlands will be crippled this weekend due to fresh strikes by rail staff and engineering works.
According to the boss of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), the bitter industrial dispute which sparked the train strike is “stuck in a deadlock”.
Mick Lynch said that the latest offer aimed at stopping the strikes is “underfunded”.
How will passengers in the Midlands be affected?
Network Rail is undertaking engineering works between Leicester and Kettering, closing all lines, on Saturday, 18 March.
This will mean a reduced train service will operate between Nottingham and Leicester, and Sheffield and Leicester.
Disruption is also expected across a number of services that travel through the region due to industrial action.
CrossCountry passengers are being warned to check before they travel tomorrow as RMT workers stage a walkout.
Services include one train per hour between Birmingham and Manchester, via Stoke on Trent, Macclesfield and Stockport.
There will also be one train an hour between Birmingham and York with extensions through to Edinburgh.
A limited timetable will be operating on West Midlands Railway, with no trains running before 7am and final services in the early evening.
Rail bosses say those traveling by train should allow extra time for their journeys.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “RMT members at train operating companies are being denied a say on their own future, while being forced to lose more pay through avoidable strike action.
“We urge the RMT’s executive to put the Rail Delivery Group’s very fair offer to a democratic vote of their members, like it has on two separate occasions for RMT members working for Network Rail.”
Passengers are also being warned of future strike dates, including March 30 and April 1.
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