People travelling to Cheltenham Festival this week are being urged to plan ahead and to expect longer journeys if getting to the races by train.

Rail services between Birmingham and Cheltenham will be impacted by RMT industrial action on Thursday 16 and Saturday 18 March, in the ongoing dispute about pay, staffing levels, job security and working conditions.

Trains will be busier and will start later and finish earlier, with no services at all in some places.

Although RMT has suspended strike action on Network Rail, industrial action at some rail operators is planned to go ahead, impacting train services to and from Cheltenham Festival.

With thousands of people expected to travel by train from Birmingham to the world-famous event, Network Rail is advising passengers to:

• plan their journeys,
• allow extra time to catch their train, and
• expect services to start later, and finish much earlier than usual.

Steven Ireland, Network Rail’s Central route head of stations and customer relations, said: “Though we’re looking forward to seeing festival-goers through the station, industrial action is going to have a significant impact on passengers’ experience at New Street and I’d urge people to leave extra time to travel and to plan their journey carefully.

“Services will start later and finish earlier which means trains will be extremely busy and queueing systems will be in operation for all those travelling towards Cheltenham and Bristol. On other routes there will be no services at all so I’d ask all those planning to travel by train to factor this into their journeys and be respectful of station staff.”

Nick Chadwick, CrossCountry‘s regional managing director for West Midlands & North West, said: “We want to make sure as many people as possible can get to this year’s Festival as swiftly and safely as ever, but this week’s industrial action means passengers should plan their journeys that bit more carefully on Thursday and Saturday.

“It’s really important that people check before travelling and know which train they’re going to get – especially on the way home. On Thursday and Saturday our final services will be as early as 7pm, so make sure you leave enough time to get back to the station and safely onto the train.”

Additional staff will be on hand at Birmingham New Street station during the festival to help passengers to travel safely. The station team has been planning for weeks to get ready for the thousands of extra passengers who use the station to get to Cheltenham Racecourse.

Passengers can check their journeys on the National Rail Enquries website here or with their train operator for the latest travel information.