Easter holiday travel warning: Aslef to take industrial action during school break with strikes planned

Families hoping to get away on the railway this Easter break are being warned of possible disruption as drivers prepare to take industrial action.

Aslef members will be staging a walkout this week, with TransPennine Express warning that all of its services will be halted on Saturday, April 6. Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Experience & Transformation Director at TPE, said: “Unfortunately, strike action will once again, cause disruption to our services, as well as those across the country. Sadly, we won’t be able to run any trains at all on Saturday 6 April, and some services will be affected this week by further industrial action.” 

Drivers will also stage action short of a strike in the form of an overtime ban between Thursday, April 4 and Saturday, April 6, and again on Monday, April 8 and Tuesday, April 9. Mr O'Brien added: “We expect the action short of a strike to cause some disruption, delays and short-notice cancellations. I would advise customers to check very carefully before they travel and to allow extra time for any journeys. We’re extremely sorry for the impact this action will have for our customers and will do all we can to keep as many people on the move as possible.” 

Aslef driver at multiple other companies are also expected to join the action. Other services impacted include those offered by Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, LNER and West Midlands Trains among others. In an update, Avanti West Coast said: "Services on the days either side of the strike will also be affected, along with industrial action impacting other train companies throughout the week, so we recommend you check your entire journey before you travel. Where we share routes with other operators, our trains will be busier than usual on the dates other train companies are on strike. More information about which operators are affected each day can be found below.

"If you booked tickets to travel on strike days before the industrial action was announced on 20 March, you can claim a full, fee-free refund from your point of purchase. Alternatively, if you have pre-booked tickets for strike days you can use these on alternative travel dates. Find out more below.

"To minimise the number of people disrupted, we suspend ticket sales for our services on strike days as soon as they're announced. Online journey planners are now all updated to show no Avanti West Coast trains on Friday 5 April and the resulting amended timetables for 4, 6, 8 and 9 April."