West Midlands Railway is urging passengers to only travel by train if completely necessary during the period of strike action on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th of December. The rail operator is also asking customers travelling by train over the Christmas period to check their travel plans ahead as further industrial action could affect trains, especially those operating early in the morning or later in the evening.

Tuesday the 13th, Wednesday the 14th, Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th of December will bring substantial disruption to rail service as the RMT union carries out industrial action. During this time, trains will operate between 07.30am and 6.30pm on some routes whilst other routes will have no train service whatsoever.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: “It is very disappointing that our customers will once again be impacted by this unnecessary industrial action.

“With only a very limited service running and some routes with no trains at all, our advice to passengers is to only travel if your journey is essential. If you do travel over the Christmas period, please check your train carefully.

“Anyone holding a ticket for travel on a strike day can claim a full refund from their point of purchase.”

Limited trains services operating on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th of December are as follows:

• Cross-City Line (Lichfield Trent Valley to Redditch/Bromsgrove via Birmingham New Street)
• Wolverhampton to Birmingham
• Birmingham New Street to Birmingham International
• Birmingham New Street to London Euston via Northampton (London Northwestern Railway service)
• Birmingham New Street to  Crewe via Wolverhampton (London Northwestern Railway service)

No other West Midlands Railway services will operate on any of the rail operator’s other routes during the strike dates including all routes via Birmingham Snow Hill, Birmingham to Shrewsbury and Nuneaton to Leamington Spa.

Saturday the 17th of December will see members of the TSSA union at West Midlands Railway also take strike action which will bring further disruption to services. Timetables for this day are still being completed and will be available next week.

Further disruption is expected during the Christmas period as further industrial action by RMT members is set to take place. Timetables for services from the 18th of December through to Christmas Eve are also being finalised and will also be published next week.

No West Midlands Railway train services will operate on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

For further information regarding the impact of strike action on West Midlands Railway services, please visit: www.wmr.uk/industrialaction