Northern announces extra rail replacement buses for day of industrial action

The buses will operate in some areas that will not have rail services as a result of the revised timetable. Northern rail tickets will also be accepted on all Arriva Bus services (including Yorkshire Tiger) in the north of England on the day of the strike.

Sharon Keith, Regional Director for Northern, said: “Earlier this week we announced we would be able to run approximately 980 rail services on the day of the industrial action. After further planning we will also be able to operate around 300 extra rail replacement buses.

“Our aim is to deliver a public transport service for as many people as possible on Monday as we know Northern plays a key role in keeping the north of England moving.

“We expect all services, rail and bus, to be extremely busy and ask for customers’ patience on Monday. We would also ask customers to take time to consider whether journeys are necessary and, if they are, to plan carefully.

“As with the rail timetable, we have focused our planning efforts on providing a service between 7am and 7pm. And we have sought to provide an additional transport option for customers on the busiest routes that did not benefit from a rail service in the revised timetable.”

 Full details of the rail and rail replacement timetables can be found on the Northern website – northernrailway.co.uk/industrialaction. The website also contains supporting information and a number of frequently asked questions which will help customers as they plan their journeys.

Information will also be displayed on posters at all stations across our network and on customer information screens where available.

The planned industrial action comes at a time when Northern is embarking on a journey to modernise its network by 2020.

This modernisation programme will see the introduction of 281 new carriages, 243 upgraded trains, 2,000 extra services each week and better stations across the network.

Sharon added: “Modernising the train journey of our customers means we have to make changes. We want to involve everyone as we develop our plans, from our customers and communities, to employees and their trade unions.

“Our proposals are still in the early stages, so it is disappointing that RMT is taking strike action on Monday 13 March, because there is lots of time to talk and agree how we  modernise the way we provide customer service. As part of our proposals we are prepared to offer guarantees on jobs and pay to our people.”