October train strikes: Rail strikes to affect Yorkshire passengers travelling via North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Northern Rail and Network Rail

The upcoming national rail strike is expected to occur on Saturday, October 1, 2022 and as a result, a rail replacement coach service will be in operation between Grosmont and Whitby, NYMR says.

The replacement coach service will be in place for passengers travelling on either the Seaside Special or Yorkshire Express services between the Grosmont and Whitby.

The NYMR assures that it is doing all it can to minimise the impact of the strike action for its passengers. Currently, October 1 is the only date affecting the NYMR services due to the strikes.

Northern Rail is warning customers that there are no services operating on the days of the strikes, Saturday, October 1 and Wednesday, October 5.

Strike action by the RMT on Saturday, October 8 is predicted to result in nearly all but a handful of services to a halt, with Northern still working on an altered timetable to be published soon.

Northern Rail advises customers not to travel on this day.

Due to the impact strikes have on fleet displacement, Northern is also advising passengers to check their schedules before travelling on Sunday, October 2 and Sunday, October 9, when services cannot start until later in the morning.

You can find more information on the Northern Railway website.

Chief operating officer at Northern, Tricia Williams, said: “We apologise in advance for the significant disruption and inconvenience this action by the RMT and ASLEF unions will cause to our customers.

“As we have previously pledged, we will continue to work towards a resolution to this issue with the hope of avoiding more disruptive strikes in the future.”

Network Rail has also warned customers to only travel by train ‘if absolutely necessary’ on October 1, 5 and 8 amid the strike action.

Thousands of specially-trained and fully qualified back-up staff will be stepping in during the strikes to keep essential services running for travellers who need them, similar to the strike days in June, July and August. However, Saturday, October 1 will be the first time that the RMT and ASLEF strike on the same day and this means that only an estimate of 11 per cent of services will operate, compared to an estimate of 20 per cent on a typical strike day.

The operators impacted by the train strikes on Wednesday, October 5, are: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

The second strike on Saturday, October 8 will also see a reduced rail service in operation and passengers are advised that there is likely to be some disruption in the early morning of the day after each strike - Sunday, October 2, Thursday, October 6 and Sunday, October 9 - as workers return to duties.

Network Rail chief executive, Andrew Haines, said: “We want to give our employees a decent pay rise. It isn’t fair to ask taxpayers or passengers to fund this so we must fund it ourselves, which is achievable if the unions work with us to modernise and run the railway more efficiently.

“Our latest offer - an 8% pay rise over two years with other benefits - is affordable from within our own budget, but the RMT refuses to allow its members to vote on it. The decision by unions to strike again serves only to prolong disruption for passengers, undermine the railway’s recovery from the pandemic and ensure railway staff forgo even more of their pay unnecessarily.

“Our efforts to avert this disruption have unfortunately been in vain, so we’re asking passengers to only travel if absolutely necessary on strike days. Those who must travel should expect disruption and make sure they check when their last train will depart.”

Director of Industry Operations at Rail Delivery Group, Daniel Mann, said: “These strikes are unnecessary and damaging. They disrupt passengers’ plans, undermine struggling businesses, hit major events and harm the industry’s recovery. It is particularly disheartening that next weekend’s strike will hit the plans of thousands of runners who have trained for months to take part in the iconic London Marathon. That will also punish the many charities, large and small, who depend on sponsorship money raised by such events to support the most vulnerable in our community.

“While we have done all we can to keep some services running, passengers should only travel by rail if absolutely necessary. Passengers with advance, off-peak or anytime tickets affected by the strikes on October 1 can use their ticket on the day before the booked date, or up to and including October 4. Passengers can also change their tickets to travel on an alternate date or get a refund if their train is cancelled or rescheduled.”

The same flexibility applies to customers booked to travel on the day before the strike on October 5 and they can use their tickets up to and including October 7.

Passengers with a season ticket or who have an activated days’ worth of travel on a flexi season ticket who choose not to travel on October 1 and 5, can claim compensation for these days through the Delay Repay scheme. Weekly Season Ticket holders can also claim through Delay Repay if their train is delayed or cancelled on the day, or a ‘Do Not Travel’ warning is in place.