Rail strike: When do staff walk out and which trains will still be running?
Passengers have been urged to only travel if essential in the West Midlands ahead of mass walkouts on the railway network over three days next week.
Strikes will be held over three days across the country over job cuts, pay and terms and conditions after talks failed to progress with Network Rail.
But how will this impact services across the West Midlands?
When are the strikes?
Strikes will be happening on Tuesday June 21, Thursday June 23 and Saturday June 25 after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) balloted around 40,000 staff across Network Rail and 15 train companies for industrial action.
Only around half of Britain’s rail network will be open on those days, and with a very limited service running on lines from around 7.30am until 6.30pm.
Which operators will be affected?
Staff at 13 train operators, as well has Network Rail, have voted to go on strike.
These include West Midlands Railways and Avanti West Coast, which both serve the Black Country.
The other operators with staff walking out are:
c2c
Chiltern Railways
Cross Country Trains
Greater Anglia
Great Western Railway
East Midlands Railway
LNER
Northern Trains
South Eastern
South Western Railway
TransPennine Express
Staff at Transport for Wales, which also operates into Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International, are not going on strike, however the operator will still not be operating any services on the days of strike action.
Why are workers going on strike?
Rail workers have voted to strike amid a row with Network Rail over "pay freezes, threats to jobs and attacks on their terms and conditions" according to union bosses.
But Network Rail – the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network – has said the union "must recognise we are a public body and any pay increase has to be affordable for taxpayers".
Will I still be able to get to work?
The answer is yes – with some difficulty.
West Midlands Railway
West Midlands Railway has announced it will be running a limited number of services on the days workers strike, with passengers being urged only to travel if essential.
There will be one train per hour running between Wolverhampton and Birmingham, and between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International. On the Cross City Line, including routes between New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley, Redditch and Bromsgrove, there will be just two trains per hour.
Meanwhile all other WMR services will be withdrawn completely, including all routes via Birmingham Snow Hill, Birmingham and Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Worcester and Hereford, and Nuneaton and Leamington Spa.
The significantly reduced service will also operate on Wednesday and Friday – days where there is no strike action – due to the disruption caused by the walkout. On these days services will commence at 7.30am, with last trains earlier than usual.
Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: "It is very disappointing that this planned strike action by the RMT is set to cause significant disruption to our passengers.
"We will be operating a very limited service all through the week and we are asking customers to only travel with us if their journey is essential and no other transport option is available to them. Passengers holding tickets or season tickets will be entitled to refunds and should visit our website for information."
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast will be running a reduced service too.
Only two trains will run from Wolverhampton to London Euston, leaving at 8.24am and 9.24am.
In total only eight trains will run from from Birmingham to London on the days of strike action, with the last leaving New Street at 3.50pm.
Only eight trains will run in the opposite direction from the capital between 8.43am and 3.43pm. Of these, only the last two - the 2.43pm and 3.43pm - will run as far as Wolverhampton.
Only one train will run north from Wolverhampton, leaving at 7.37am for Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay and Preston. The return working leaves the Lancashire city at 2.17pm, getting into Wolverhampton at 3.45pm.
Stafford will be served by hourly services between London Euston and Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly from 10.06am through to 5.06pm, while there is also set to be an hourly service to Liverpool Lime Street from 10.22am until 4.23pm.
Trains heading south to London will call at Stafford from 8.51am to 4.49pm.
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales has said it will not be operating any trains in the region on strike, meaning there will be no services from Birmingham and Wolverhampton to and from Shropshire and Mid Wales.
Will services be affected on other days?
Despite strikes only being held on three days next week, the railway network is likely to be affected for the whole week, with railway companies warning the hangover of delays and disruption would continue besides the strike-affected days.
Network Rail has said that a special timetable will be in operation across England, Scotland and Wales from Monday June 20 up to and including Sunday June 26.
In a statement Network Rail said: "On the days that follow the strikes (22nd, 24th and 26th June) the whole network will reopen but passengers should also expect disruption on these days as the strike days chosen have been designed to inflict as much disruption as possible, with not enough time between the strike days to fully recover to a normal service."
