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Passengers advised to avoid rail travel as more strikes hit the network

PASSENGERS are facing major disruption as nearly all trains in Wales are cancelled on Wednesday.

More than 40,000 UK railway workers, who are part of the RMT union, are set to take part in national strikes over pay.

Transport for Wales (TfW) urged people to “only to travel by rail if necessary” during the industrial action.

It said the strikes are expected to cause “severe disruption” across the whole of the UK.

TfW is not in dispute with the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT), but as Network Rail maintains tracks services in Wales will be hit.

This means only a handful of trains will be running on Wednesday.

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GWR says on strike days it will operate an extremely limited service between 7am and 6.30pm and last trains will leave much earlier. Due to the timing of the strike action, services after strike days will also be affected. Passengers are advised to find alternative ways to travel on these days and to only travel if absolutely necessary. The majority of train services will not operate and there will be no services on some routes.

Avanti West Coast has published revised timetables for travel and says passengers can amend their tickets, or ask for a refund. “If you do travel, expect severe disruption and plan ahead. The days after industrial action are also likely to be affected.” They say their timetables will be “significantly reduced with shorter hours of operation, less frequent services, and trains that do run are expected to be very busy.”

Cross Country says their services will be impacted on Wednesday, July 27, as well as Thursday, July 28, and Saturday, July 30.

Nick Millington, route director for Wales & Borders at Network Rail: “We are doing our best to run the trains that we can – we recognise that’s a significantly reduced service here in Wales.”

He added: “We are in dialogue and we have made progress. I recognise it’s not the progress that everybody wants.”

“It’s not all about money either – we want to make sure that we get a sustainable deal for the railway industry and for those that pay for the railway industry, but also the people that use the railway industry.”

TfW say customers with existing non-season tickets valid for travel on the two strike days can use those tickets any time between Tuesday, July 26, and Tuesday, August 2. 

Customers are encouraged to avoid travelling on Friday, July 29, and Sunday, July 31, as services are expected to be extremely busy.

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