Rail passengers’ tickets will be honoured on some buses during tomorrow’s (Sat) rail strike.
Northern customers will be able to use their tickets on Arriva Bus services across the north of England for journeys they would otherwise have made by train.
Northern, which operates trains through Huddersfield, expects to run around 35% of its normal services on Saturday. Using Arriva Bus services, including Yorkshire Tiger, Northern’s customers can use buses in much of Yorkshire, the North East, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
Northern has also announced there will be more than 300 additional rail replacement buses to provide travel options for customers who do not have rail services in their area during industrial action.
The strike action is over bitter rows over staffing and driver-only trains. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Merseyrail, Arriva Trains North and Southern are walking out for 24 hours.
The RMT is demanding an inquiry and a halt to the introduction of driver-only services because of safety implications.
General secretary Mick Cash said: “It is well established that once the guarantee of a guard is withdrawn then disabled passengers are disadvantaged because they can no longer be assured of being able to turn up and get on or off the train at unstaffed stations.”
All of Northern’s services – train and rail replacement buses – are expected to be extremely busy and customers are advised to give themselves extra time to travel and consider whether their journey is necessary.
Check before you travel, full details of the revised timetables and supporting information for customers can be found on the Northern’s website at northernrailway.co.uk/industrialaction. For details on Arriva Bus services please go to arrivabus.co.uk/journeyplanner/query/en.
Customers can get the latest travel advice by going to Twitter @northernassist or by checking www.journeycheck.com/northern .
