Train travellers in Norfolk are still being urged to find alternatives during the first part of the weekend despite proposed rail strike action being cancelled at late notice.
Greater Anglia rail services will still remain disrupted on Saturday, November 5, despite National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) cancelling strikes, due to the announcement coming too late in the day to reinstate services.
The RMT had been due to carry out strikes tomorrow as well as Monday, November 7 and Wednesday, November 9, and the move was expected to cause severe disruption to Greater Anglia’s services.
But despite the cancellation, Greater Anglia is unable to restore its usual Saturday timetable in time and is continuing to advise passengers to avoid using its trains tomorrow.
Only trains between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, Colchester, Southend Victoria and Cambridge, and the Stansted Express service, will run on Saturday which will start at 7.30am and finish by 6.30pm.
No trains are planned to run on any other routes.
Services will also be later starting up on Sunday morning as planned, due to the disruption caused by planning for strike action.
Greater Anglia is advising passengers to check before they travel over the weekend and to check the Greater Anglia website and app over the weekend for information about services on Monday.
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We welcome the news that the RMT have called off their strikes, it’s a positive step for the rail industry and our passengers.
“We’re very sorry that due to the complexities of timetabling which has to be co-ordinated with other train companies and Network Rail, plus the rostering of ours and Network Rail’s staff, we cannot switch back to our usual Saturday timetable at such short notice.
“However, we are working hard with our colleagues at Network Rail to get services back to normal as soon as possible after the weekend.
“At the same time, the rail industry is continuing with talks with the RMT to try to get a resolution.”
London Underground and Overground RMT staff are still scheduled to strike on Thursday, November 10.
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