A UK-wide national walkout by Network Rail signalling and maintenance employees who are members of the union RMT will impact Liverpool City Region rail services on Tuesday the 13th, Wednesday the 14th, Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th of December.

The strike action will begin from 02.00 on Tuesday the 13th and will go on until 1.59 on Thursday the 15th of December, the next strike will begin from 02.00 on Friday the 16th until 01.59 Sunday the 18th of December.

Similar to previous strike days, Merseyrail is only able to operate a small number of trains due to the number of Network Rail signalling and maintenance staff available to work on those days, because of this, the rail operator will be running a 45-minute service which will call at all station on selected lines between 07.30 and 18.30 in order to support passengers who need to make essential journeys.

No rail replacement buses will be in operation during strike days and anybody who does need to travel outside of the hours mentioned above will need to find alternate modes of transport.

The services that are able to operate on Tuesday the 13th, Wednesday the 14th, Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th of December are as follows:

Chester and Ellesmere Port lines:

• No trains will operate between Chester and Rock Ferry or Ellesmere Port and Rock Ferry.
• Trains will run every 45 minutes between Rock Ferry and Liverpool Central and will call at all stations.

New Brighton line:

• Trains will run every 45 minutes, calling at all stations.

West Kirby line:

• Trains will run every 45 minutes, calling at all stations.

Southport line:

• Trains will run every 45 minutes, calling at all stations.

Hunts Cross line:

• No trains will operate between Liverpool Central and Hunts Cross.

Ormskirk line:

• Trains will run every 45 minutes, calling at all stations.

Kirkby line:

• Trains will run every 45 minutes, calling at all stations.

Thursday the 15th of December will see train services start later at roughly 07.00 in the morning and will see a limited rail replacement bus service running from the busiest stations before 07.00. Passengers are being advised to check the Merseyrail website for up-to-date information or speak with staff members at a station.

Sunday the 18th of December will see timetables operating as normal.

Jane English, Acting Managing Director at Merseyrail, said: “We would like to apologise for the disruption caused to our passengers as a result of the action being taken by Network Rail signallers and maintenance staff. We have worked closely with Network Rail to provide an improved industrial action timetable, with a train serving most stations on the network every 45 minutes from 07:30 and 18:30, to help passengers make essential journeys.

“We would remind passengers who are travelling on Tuesday 13 December, Wednesday 14 December, Friday 16 December or Saturday 17 December to plan their journeys in advance and that trains are likely to be very busy. The late evenings of Friday 16 December and Saturday 17 December are likely to be extremely busy as people begin Christmas celebrations. Passengers should consider their journey plans carefully bearing in mind that Merseyrail services will not be operating any later than 18:30 on both days.”

Passengers who usually need assistance when travelling are asked to speak with members of station staff or get in touch with Merseyrail’s customer service team using the website ahead of travelling.

Passengers using the Merseyrail network in order to connect for onward travel need to check via the rail operators they will be travelling with as a good number of train companies will not be able to run services on Tuesday the 13th, Wednesday the 14th, Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th of December.

Further strike action organised from the 24th to the 27th of December could also impact Merseyrail services, once further detail is available regarding this, the rail operator will provide guidance for passengers.

To see full timetables please visit: http://www.merseyrail.org/strike