Northern ‘working up a plan’ for a fuller Wednesday service after rail strikes cancelled

Northern has confirmed its much reduced service strike timetable will remain in place on both days as changing the timetable is ‘complex’.

Northern's chief operating officer, Tricia Williams, said: “We welcome the news that the RMT has withdrawn its planned strike action on Saturday [November 5], Monday [November 7] and Wednesday [November 9].

“We can confirm that the much reduced service strike timetable will still run on Saturday and Monday as the reintroduction of a timetable is complex and can take several days to do.

“We continue to advise customers not travel on these days. We are working up a plan to run a fuller service on Wednesday - customers should visit our strike page for most up to date information.”

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) had been due to walk out on Saturday, November 5; Monday, November 7; and Wednesday, November 9, in an ongoing row over pay, jobs and conditions.

However the workers’ group confirmed on Friday (November 4) it had called off the industrial action after securing “unconditional” talks on Network Rail (NR) and the promise of a pay offer from the train operating companies.

Tyne and Wear Metro has also confirmed it will not be able to operate between Pelaw and South Hylton on Saturday, November 5.

Metro services running between Pelaw and South Hylton use stretches of track which are part of the national rail network owned and managed by Network Rail. If Network Rail does not have enough staff to operate signals, then train services cannot run.