Over 90 per cent of services to run as usual as industrial action confirmed on Thursday 12 November

Over 90 per cent of Chiltern Railways’ services will run as usual on Thursday 12 November, despite industrial action being announced by members of the RMT union.

The vast majority of services will be unaffected and Chiltern Railways will run trains to and from Wembley Stadium Station to support the England vs Croatia match in the evening.

There will be the following changes to the timetable:

• No direct Chiltern services will operate between Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa
  
  
• No Chiltern services will operate north of Birmingham Moor Street
  
  
• There will be a small reduction in the overall number of services running between Leamington Spa and Birmingham Moor Street, which will impact customers at Hatton and Lapworth

Customers travelling to or from stations along the route between Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon may travel on West Midlands Railway services, via Dorridge, at no extra cost. In addition, customers travelling between Birmingham Moor Street and Stourbridge Junction may use their tickets to travel on West Midlands Railway services.

Tony Baxter, Interim Managing Director of Chiltern Railways, said:

“We’re disappointed that the RMT is continuing with industrial action over how we intend to run services on the first stage of East West Rail between Oxford and Milton Keynes.

“Industrial action by Train Managers has been announced by the RMT on 12 November, We expect to run the vast majority of our services on that day, helping to minimise disruption for customers, and will publish confirmed timetables as soon as possible.

“Every East West Rail service will have two people on board - the Driver, and a colleague looking after passengers: checking tickets, helping people who need assistance, and on hand to assist with any issues.

“We have run most of our trains with the Driver in control of the doors for decades, safely and as approved by the independent rail regulator. It also means over 100 new permanent jobs at Chiltern, and no changes to the roles of existing colleagues.

“We remain committed to working with the RMT to resolve this, and urge them to work with us so passengers can start benefiting from this new railway as soon as possible.”

Train timetables for Thursday 12 November will be updated in the coming days. More information on the industrial action can be viewed here.