East Midlands Railway will see a substantial reduction in service levels on Friday the 2nd and Saturday the 3rd of December as strike action is carried out by members of Unite the Union.

Customers are advised to travel only if absolutely necessary on the strike days with anyone who does need to travel are advised to check the time of the last available return train.

Other rail operators will not be impacted by the industrial action and customers using East Midlands Railway as well as other rail operators to make their journey will need to check very carefully to see whether the trip is viable.

East Midlands Railway is unable to operate any services running east out of Nottingham during the industrial action which will affect both Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Some routes will see trains terminate by 18:30 with no further services operating.

Alongside industrial action, planned engineering work is also being carried out between Luton and London St. Pancras International on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th of December and will see the following changes:

• Replacement buses operating between Luton and Hitchin, connecting with Great Northern and Thameslink services between Hitchin and London St Pancras International and London Kings Cross. Customers will need to leave extra time to complete their journeys.

As per previous strikes, East Midlands Railway has worked with rail colleagues from across the industry in order to put in place robust and reliable services where it can, despite these efforts, customers are still strongly advised to check their travel plans via the East Midlands Railway website as well as information at stations and on social media to discover the most up to date advice and details.

Timetables for all services will be released shortly and will be available via journey planners from Wednesday the 30th of November.

Will Rogers, Managing Director for East Midlands Railway, said: “As a result of strike action being taken by Unite the Union, we will be operating a significantly reduced service on Friday and Saturday.

“The impact of industrial action has specifically affected the operation of our train depots and reduces our ability to run our normal timetable.

“We are advising customers to plan ahead and only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on strike days. Customers are also strongly advised to check when the time of their last train is before setting off, understand how the strike action affects their whole journey and take note of the impact of planned engineering works.

“More detailed advice, including daily travel information, is available on our website.”

Rail Replacement Buses will not be put in place where lines have been closed due to not having enough capacity to support demand.

Changes to services are as follows for the period of strike action on the 2nd and 3rd of December:

Friday the 2nd of December

• East Midlands Railway services will only operate between 07:30 and 18:30 only
• East Midlands Railway Connect will operate a normal timetable between the hours of 05:00 and 01:30
• Nottingham and Worksop will operate a normal timetable between the hours of 05:15 and 23:00
• Crewe and Nottingham will operate a slightly reduced timetable between the hours of 06:00 and 22:00

East Midlands Railway Intercity:

• Only one train each hour between Nottingham and London
• Only one train per hour between Sheffield and London

EMR Connect:

• Two Trains each hour between Corby and London (normal timetable, between the hours of 05:00 and 01:30)

EMR Regional:

• One Train Per Hour between Derby and Matlock
• One Train Per Hour between Crewe and Nottingham (slightly reduced service between 06:00 and 22:00)
• One Train Per Hour between Sheffield and Nottingham
• One Train Per Hour between Leicester and Nottingham
• Normal timetable for the Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Worksop (normal timetable is between the hours of 05:15 and 23:00)
• All other lines on the route will be closed for the full day on Friday the 2nd of December.

Saturday the 3rd of December:

• East Midlands Railway services will only operate between 07:30 and 18:30 only
• East Midlands Railway Connect will operate a normal timetable between the hours of 05:00 and 01:30
• Nottingham and Worksop will operate a normal timetable between the hours of 05:15 and 23:00
• Crewe and Nottingham will operate a slightly reduced timetable between the hours of 06:00 and 22:00

East Midlands Railway Intercity:

• Only one train each hour between Nottingham and Luton
• Only one train per hour between Sheffield and Luton
• Planned engineering work will be taking place between Luton and London St Pancras International.
• Replacement buses will run between Luton and Hitchin, connecting with Great Northern and Thameslink services between Hitchin and London St Pancras International and London Kings Cross. Customers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys.

EMR Connect:

• Two Trains each hour between Corby and London (normal timetable, between the hours of 05:00 and 01:30)

EMR Regional:

• One Train Per Hour between Derby and Matlock
• One Train Per Hour between Crewe and Nottingham (slightly reduced service between 06:00 and 22:00)
• One Train Per Hour between Sheffield and Nottingham
• One Train Per Hour between Leicester and Nottingham
• Normal timetable for the Robin Hood Line between Nottingham and Worksop (normal timetable is between the hours of 05:15 and 23:00)
• All other lines on the route will be closed for the full day on Saturday the 3rd of December.

Sunday 4 December:

Normal service will be in operation with the exception of the planned engineering work which will see:

• Replacement buses will run between Luton and Hitchin, connecting with Great Northern and Thameslink services between Hitchin and London St Pancras International and London Kings Cross. Customers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys.
• Some trains between Corby and Luton will operate between Corby and Kettering only.