Arriva Rail North Timetable/Travel Advice on Strike Days

[DarloRich]

it is hardly surprising numbers are dropping off as Christmas gets closer and the impact of working every Saturday bites. I wonder what business performance is like more widely. I expect the volunteers are given the required rest period between duties, office or otherwise, and a day off in lieu.

Add to that the hassles that guards face everyday ( which the office bods may not have directly appreciated) and it is no wonder they cant be bothered! Would you take that crap when it isnt your job? I don't think i would volunteer for abuse from drunks!

 

[Gems]

The PUG's. (Hate that term but it best describes them) When I looked at the diagrams most had a minimum half hour break built in somewhere. Everything was down to the legal minimum.
Saturdays are a very different beast to the rest of the week. You get a bit of everything in the mix. People travelling further afield, shoppers, people going out to get hammered. Families, When you get this mix together is the time when you get the problems. You may think the last trains are the worst, give me a last train anytime. If you know everyone is going to be pissed, it is easier to deal with and you are mentally ready for it. It is late afternoon and early evening trains that are the problem, that is when the mix is most potent, and this is the time a lot of PUG's have had problems.

 

[DarloRich]

The PUG's. (Hate that term but it best describes them)

that cant be the official term surely? it is terrible. Persons Volunteering as Guard (PVG) is better!

 

[Gems]

that cant be the official term surely? it is terrible. Persons Volunteering as Guard (PVG) is better!

Sure I first saw the abbreviation on here. Sort of stuck. Not aware of a official name. I know most of them on my routes by first name, so first names it is.

 

[Clip]

Delightfully last weekend they ran a RRB from Preston to...wait for it... Buckshaw Parkway only. They may aswell have not bothered.

 

[MDB1images]

Delightfully last weekend they ran a RRB from Preston to...wait for it... Buckshaw Parkway only. They may aswell have not bothered.

Same today.
Very odd.

No services by train or Bus to Manchester from Preston today.

Blackpool South seemed hourly, at least 1 train an hour(seemed to be 2 at times)to Blackpool North.
Seems odd Blackpool has such a good service(for a Industrial action day) with Manchester getting nothing (save for the TPE service).

 

[Muenchener]

Same today.
Very odd.

No services by train or Bus to Manchester from Preston today.

Blackpool South seemed hourly, at least 1 train an hour(seemed to be 2 at times)to Blackpool North.
Seems odd Blackpool has such a good service(for a Industrial action day) with Manchester getting nothing (save for the TPE service).

I complained to Northern about last week's RRB being PRE to BSV only and no link south to the RRB from Chorley going south. The response from Northern being get the service bus to Chorley!
Same this week re the RRB to and from PRE only. Today's possession not helping matters with Wigan via Atherton not a possible diversionary route.

The service at weekends was actually better under full weekend possessions; doubtless NR funded!

 

[Bungle965]

Tomorrow appears to be looking marginally better for my side of the Calder Valley. There is a service to Rochdale only which is all stops (Moston, Mills Hill & Castleton).
No service until Todmordon where there is a replacement bus service to both Blackburn and Bradford Interchange.
Sam

 

[Andyh82]

Timetables for next week are up, they look to be much reduced on last week. Most trains out of Leeds finish about 4:30/5:00

 

[rg177]

Services looking evermore pruned.

The only Northern service out of Liverpool is a shuttle to St Helens Central. Nothing to Wigan.

Bradford Forster Square/Frizinghall see no service.

Only services out of Sheffield are Doncaster/Barnsley stoppers.

No Leeds-Sheffield fasts or Leeds-Doncaster stoppers.

Everything out of Heaton seems to be holding up quite well though.

 

[Andyh82]

Interesting that there are Barnsley stoppers, as often this is a bus service, with a Barnsley/Leeds fast running instead.

Also no service on the Penistone Line at all by the look of it, or between Leeds and Sheffield by either route neither fast or slow. No trains between Hebden Bridge and Blackburn or between Hebden Bridge and Rochdale.

 

[splashoutradio]

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but there seems to be an over generous offering of buses and trains on the Windermere branch for the strike this weekend - https://d2cf7kiw5xizhy.cloudfront.net/images/timetables/bucket/oxenholme---windermere-1623.pdf

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but there seems to be an over generous offering of buses and trains on the Windermere branch for the strike this weekend - https://d2cf7kiw5xizhy.cloudfront.net/images/timetables/bucket/oxenholme---windermere-1623.pdf

After what has happened in the recent past on the Windermere line, I think that any matter as described above should be viewed as anything but a good thing.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Timetables for next week are up, they look to be much reduced on last week. Most trains out of Leeds finish about 4:30/5:00

The generic text for the strike page on Northern's site has changed too. It now reads;

"Northern has announced details of the services it will operate for the RMT strike action on Saturday, 1 December and the following four Saturdays.

The RMT strike action, planned for 1,8,15,22 and 29 December, will see Northern running approximately 700 services during each Saturday – but with very few Northern services running after 5pm."

So from this I would assume that the timetables for this coming Saturday will be the same for the following 4 Saturdays.

 

[Gems]

The generic text for the strike page on Northern's site has changed too. It now reads;

"Northern has announced details of the services it will operate for the RMT strike action on Saturday, 1 December and the following four Saturdays.

The RMT strike action, planned for 1,8,15,22 and 29 December, will see Northern running approximately 700 services during each Saturday – but with very few Northern services running after 5pm."

So from this I would assume that the timetables for this coming Saturday will be the same for the following 4 Saturdays. Merry Christmas from the RMT!

Managers are asked when the strikes are announced which days they are available to work. So yes, although not set in stone, they will have a pretty good idea of what they can provide.
This is going to be meltdown Saturday. A awful lot of people who think the strike timetables never change are going to turn up long after the last train has bolted. One of two things will happen, either it will be 'ghost town' services, or 'I predict a riot' type of services. My money is on the later.
It does look like they have largely given up.

 

[Matt_pool]

No Northern services between Liverpool and Manchester for the next 5 Saturdays according to the Liverpool Echo.

It's been a reduced, limited stop service on strike days up until now on the Lime Street - South Parkway - Warrington Central - Manchester Oxford Road line. So for the next 5 Saturdays passengers are going to have to make do with the hourly East Midlands service on this route.

 

[LowLevel]

No Northern services between Liverpool and Manchester for the next 5 Saturdays according to the Liverpool Echo.

It's been a reduced, limited stop service on strike days up until now on the Lime Street - South Parkway - Warrington Central - Manchester Oxford Road line. So for the next 5 Saturdays passengers are going to have to make do with the hourly East Midlands service on this route.

Which is working out very badly with 3 figures left behind regularly and EMT suffering substantial fleet problems.

The crush at Oxford Road is scary with the Northern services let alone without.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Which is working out very badly with 3 figures left behind regularly and EMT suffering substantial fleet problems.

The crush at Oxford Road is scary with the Northern services let alone without.

I wonder whether we will reach a point at which public order considerations force EMT to turn all their strike day services at Manchester? Given the gradual reduction in services being provided by Northern on all routes it is surely time for the DfT to instruct Northern to significantly improve the provision of replacement bus services.

 

[Gems]

I wonder whether we will reach a point at which public order considerations force EMT to turn all their strike day services at Manchester? Given the gradual reduction in services being provided by Northern on all routes it is surely time for the DfT to instruct Northern to significantly improve the provision of replacement bus services.

Where do all these replacement buses come from? How many buses would you need to take 200 people, and that is just one train. This is December when a lot of coach operators are doing Christmas market trips. Looking at the timetables, you would be mad to travel this Saturday. I see utter chaos and a complete breakdown in operations here.

 

[LowLevel]

Way more than that - EMT 4 car 158s (Which still run full) seat and stand somewhere over 400 people.

Suffice to say the crews are thoroughly narked at standing for up to 15 minutes at mostly unmanned stations like Widnes while Northern don't bother sending any assistance and staff have been walking away from trains. Police and security have to force people away from trains in Liverpool and Manchester.

The TPE trains to Victoria don't provide the right connections and they do nothing for the South Parkway hub from the Northern Line.

 

[Gems]

Way more than that - EMT 4 car 158s (Which still run full) seat and stand somewhere over 400 people.

Suffice to say the crews are thoroughly narked at standing for up to 15 minutes at mostly unmanned stations like Widnes while Northern don't bother sending any assistance and staff have been walking away from trains. Police and security have to force people away from trains in Liverpool and Manchester.

The TPE trains to Victoria don't provide the right connections and they do nothing for the South Parkway hub from the Northern Line.

I can well imagine. One timetable I looked at is running the last train a full 2 hours earlier than on previous Saturdays. And that used to leave people behind. If people roll up this Saturday not realising things have changed on previous days, there will be carnage. Leave well alone is my advice.

 

[yorkie]

Can we please stick to travel information only please. It is reasonable for comments to be made on how busy trains are going to be, and it is difficult to know where to draw the line at times, but can we try to avoid discussing industrial relations please.

 

[ainsworth74]

This thread is not an excuse for the same people to air the same views they've always held about the dispute and involved parties again and again and again in yet another venue.

As a reminder here are a few things that this thread is not for:

• Discussing RMT or DfT tactics
• Discussing whether or not RMT members are "revelling" in the disruption caused
• Discussing what other parties are saying about the dispute
• Anything else related to the dispute on Northern
• Anything else related to DOO in general

This thread is for the provision of information and travel advice on Northern strike days. ANY post which is not related to that will be deleted.

 

[northernchris]

The Airedale line is back to half hourly during the day on Saturday but with the last train leaving Leeds at 1656 rather than 1856. Looks like the last Northern train out of Leeds is the 1730 to Castleford so will be interesting to see if Sundays will become busier from this week

 

[hawk1911]

Travelling between Manchester and Bradford regularly on Saturdays, my route is now Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield, using Transpennine and then the X63 bus service between Huddersfield and Bradford.

With a railcard, the return rail fare and PlusBus ticket comes to a total of £11.70, a bit more than the Hebden Bridge route, but at least its a frequent, if somewhat busy, service. Journey time is typically an hour and a half each way, an hour and a quarter on a good run.

I'm pretty much resigned to using this route for the foreseeable future.

 

[Gems]

The Airedale line is back to half hourly during the day on Saturday but with the last train leaving Leeds at 1656 rather than 1856. Looks like the last Northern train out of Leeds is the 1730 to Castleford so will be interesting to see if Sundays will become busier from this week

A couple of hourly gaps during the day on the Airedale, but the lack of anything in and out of Bradford Forster Square will add to the problems.
A bigger problem is that the two buses from Lancaster and Carlisle no longer link up with the last train from Skipton.

 

[Killingworth]

Very simple for Northern's Manchester-Sheffield stopping service through the Hope Valley. There will be no Northern trains on Saturdays.

No Northern train has run on any strike day. The few East Midlands services that previously made some extra stops no longer do.

The first East Midlands early service from Sheffield to Manchester stops all stations and the last of the day between Manchester and Sheffield provides a train in the opposite direction so there remains very limited connectivity by rail.

East Midlands and TPE fast services operate as normal between the two cities.

 

[Smidster]

A couple of hourly gaps during the day on the Airedale, but the lack of anything in and out of Bradford Forster Square will add to the problems.
A bigger problem is that the two buses from Lancaster and Carlisle no longer link up with the last train from Skipton.

Airedale also seem to be starting a good hour or two later.

It will be interesting to see how busy the 9pm LNER service (sets down at Shipley, Keighley and Skipton) is. It always frustrates me a bit that Northern aren't more proactive in promoting it.

Next Saturday will be even worse as Leeds are at home at 3pm so won't finish before things wind down

 

[Gems]

Airedale also seem to be starting a good hour or two later.

It will be interesting to see how busy the 9pm LNER service (sets down at Shipley, Keighley and Skipton) is. It always frustrates me a bit that Northern aren't more proactive in promoting it.

Next Saturday will be even worse as Leeds are at home at 3pm so won't finish before things wind down

The King's Cross to Skipton service isn't Northerns to promote. But this train does have a nasty habit of being terminated at Leeds anyway.

 

[northernchris]

A couple of hourly gaps during the day on the Airedale, but the lack of anything in and out of Bradford Forster Square will add to the problems.
A bigger problem is that the two buses from Lancaster and Carlisle no longer link up with the last train from Skipton.

You're right, I hadn't realised Bradford Forster Square wasn't getting any services. However, given the announcement earlier today I'm hopeful we're towards the end of the dispute and a normal Saturday service can resume