DRIVING home for Christmas may be the only option ...

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Rail passengers have been urged to avoid travelling on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve if they can due to strike action.

Train operator CrossCountry said it was cancelling many services on Friday.

It said there would be no trains running on many routes across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), including between Derby and Nottingham.

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union said train managers and senior conductors voted for action as they felt the firm was trying to undermine the role of train guards.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said talks were ongoing with CrossCountry over the issue of other employees being trained to take on guard roles.

CrossCountry said on Christmas Eve, there would be no trains running between:

Aberdeen and Edinburgh
Glasgow Central and Edinburgh
Leicester and Stansted Airport (a bus replacement runs between Leicester and Peterborough)
Cheltenham Spa and Cardiff Central
Newton Abbot and Paignton
Plymouth and Penzance

The company added it would be running reduced services between Edinburgh and Plymouth, Manchester Piccadilly and Bournemouth, and Birmingham New Street and Leicester.

CrossCountry said services on 31 December were also likely to be affected.

"We are expecting widespread disruption to our services over the festive period due to planned strike action by the RMT.
"We are advising customers to alter their plans where possible and to avoid travel on either Friday 24 December or Friday 31 December," the firm added.

Where they say "no trains running" ... in many of those cases there is duplication of operators and there will be other companies providing service, in some cases limited.