Industrial Action: Rail passengers in Wales warned to “travel only if absolutely necessary” on 18 and 20 August

Network Rail is urging passengers in Wales and the Borders to plan ahead and only travel by train if absolutely necessary on 18 and 20 August due to continued national industrial action.

Around 10% of rail services will be able to run in Wales and the Borders on the upcoming strike days, with most trains starting later and finishing much earlier than usual – between 7.30am and 6.30pm

The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) and the TSSA union have announced strike action will take place on Thursday (18 August) and Saturday (20 August), with severe disruption expected and some routes completely closed across the whole of the UK.

Network Rail has said: “Specially trained and fully qualified back-up staff will again step in during the walkout to keep vital services running.”

Transport for Wales (TfW) is not involved in either dispute, but its services will be affected, as it relies on Network Rail staff to run trains on much of the network.

TfW will run an hourly service between Cardiff and Newport on the strike days.

Hourly TfW services will also run on the Core Valley Lines (CVL) – between Cardiff Central and Rhymney, Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil.

Great Western Railway (GWR) will run a reduced number of trains between Cardiff and London Paddington on the strike days.

No GWR services will be able to operate west of Cardiff.

Passengers are also advised that there is likely to be some disruption on the days after each strike – Friday 19 August and Sunday 21 August – as workers return to duties.

Nick Millington, acting route director at Network Rail Wales & Borders said: “It’s really disappointing that we’re having to ask passengers, once again, not to travel by train for two days due to unnecessary strike action.”

“We’ll be running as many services as we safely can for those who absolutely need to travel by train, but we are urging everyone to plan ahead, check their journey and expect severe disruption.”

• Passengers can get ticket refunds if they are unable to travel on the strike days and can also use their tickets on alternative days.
• Passengers should check with their train operator for more details and go to https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ and https://tfw.wales/ for travel updates.