EMR reminds customers of changes to train services this weekend
- Services across the EMR network will continue to be affected by strikes this weekend
- Strikes continue on Saturday meaning no train services east of Nottingham, including to Lincoln and Skegness
- No direct trains between Luton and London St Pancras on Saturday or Sunday due to pre-planned engineering work.
- Customers asked to plan ahead and only travel by rail if necessary
East Midlands Railway (EMR) is reminding customers changes to train services will continue through to the end of the weekend as a result of continuing strike action.
Members of the RMT union are striking on Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June - meaning a significantly reduced service on these days as well as resulting changes to service on Friday 24 and Sunday 26, as well.
Critically, on strike days EMR will continue to not operate any services east of Nottingham. As a result, there will be no EMR services to Lincoln, Norwich or Skegness and no replacement bus services will be available, either.
Services on Sunday will also be affected with a later than normal start up and a reduction in the overall number of services.
Customers are asked to continue to only travel by rail if it is absolutely necessary.
On strike days, EMR is operating services on every line which is possible to do so. However, some lines are closed and train services are not able to operate - this is due to the different signalling systems used on different lines.
Our colleagues at Network Rail are also affected by strike action and the number of staff available is reduced. Network Rail will continue to operate their larger control centres (such as the East Midlands Control Centre in Derby) but there will not be sufficient staff to additionally operate smaller sites and signal boxes. Therefore, lines which are controlled from these smaller sites - such as Nottingham to Skegness - are closed on strike days.
Neil Grabham, Customer Service Director, East Midlands Railway, said:
"We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding this week - we know these strikes have significantly disrupted the lives of many of our customers right across the EMR network.
"However, there are more strike days planned and ongoing changes to services and we continue to urge customers to only travel by rail if necessary. Critically, on Thursday and Saturday we will not be able to operate any services east of Nottingham - which means no trains to Lincoln, Norwich and Skegness.
"Further information, advice and timetables are available on our website, www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/rail-strike"