Warwickshire commuters warned of disruption as rail strikes take place again

A ROLLING programme of strike days and overtime bans spell more disruption to rail journeys across the Herald area from next week.

Action by the train drivers’ union ASLEF kicks off next Monday 29th January) and lasts until Tuesday, 6th February, with different action on different days across the various rail operators.

That means the picture is complicated and the overriding advice is to check before booking or setting out on a journey.

West Midlands Railway operates the majority of the services out of Stratford and will be affected by overtime bans on each of the days, with various services affected – but on Saturday, 3rd February, it will be facing strike action and will operate no trains at all.

The strike day for Chiltern, which provides the direct service to Leamington and the trains on the Marylebone route, is Monday, 5th February, with the company shaping up the service that will operate on the overtime ban days with more details to be released about the strike day and the weekend days preceding it.

Great Western runs the service through Honeybourne and Moreton-in-Marsh and expects to run normally on days with overtime bans and is aiming for a reduced service on Monday, 5th February, which is also the day it is facing ASLEF strike action. Some routes will have no trains at all and those that do run will only be for part of the day. It also warns that services either side of the strike day could be affected.

Cross Country runs a number of its long-distance routes through Leamington and is another operator facing action on Monday, 5th February. It is anticipating impacts on the days when overtime bans are in place but is yet to confirm details of what the picture is for the strike day.

National Rail Enquiries and the train operators’ websites will provide more details closer to the changes coming into effect.