HALF of Britain’s rail lines will be closed during next week’s strikes, Network Rail has said.
There will be no trains running north of Falkirk next week from Glasgow or Edinburgh.
Lines to and between Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Kyle of Lochalsh, Perth, Oban and Wick among others will be entirely closed on strike days.
Those travelling south will face an easier time with the West Coast Main Line still open between London and Glasgow, via Birmingham and Manchester. Routes between Edinburgh and London, via Newcastle also remain in service.
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Network Rail said no passenger services will serve key staycation locations such as Penzance in Cornwall, Bournemouth in Dorset, Swansea in South Wales, Holyhead in North Wales, Chester in Cheshire and Blackpool, Lancashire.
The strike days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week.
The number of passenger services on those days is expected to be limited to around 4500 compared with 20,000 normally.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Network Rail and 13 train operators are to strike for three days next week in similar disputes over pay, jobs and pensions.
Lines will only be open between 7.30am and 6.30pm, meaning services will start later and finish earlier than usual.
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Passengers “who must travel” are urged to “plan ahead” to ensure they can complete their journeys within this window, Network Rail said.
Last services from London to Scotland will leave in the early afternoon.
Steve Montgomery, who chairs industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said: “These strikes will affect the millions of people who use the train each day, including key workers, students with exams, those who cannot work from home, holidaymakers and those attending important business and leisure events.
“Working with Network Rail, our plan is to keep as many services running as possible, but significant disruption will be inevitable and some parts of the network will not have a service, so passengers should plan their journeys carefully and check their train times.”
Only around 12,000-14,000 services will be able to run on the days following the strikes.
This is because signallers and control staff will not work overnight shifts that begin on the strike dates.
That means trains will not be able to leave depots for several hours later than normal.
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