There is more travel disruption across Greater Manchester and around the north west as train operator Northern suffers serious short-staffing today.
Northern has warned that: “On Sunday 29 December we will have high levels of cancellations in the North West and for that we are sorry. We encourage everyone to plan ahead and check journeys before travelling for the latest information and train times.”
A short-term timetable will operate across Northern’s network today because the company cannot find enough conductors to work on a Sunday. The operator has said it hopes the timetable will provide ‘structure’ following weeks of short-notice cancellations.
Sunday services on the beleaguered rail operator, which was renationalised in March 2020, have been consistently disrupted in recent months as the day falls outside contracted working hours. Last month Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham described Northern as a ‘part-time rail service’ due to the high numbers of cancellations on its trains.
There will only be one service every three hours between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield, while Manchester Oxford Road to Liverpool Lime Street trains will run every two hours. Late services between Manchester Victoria and Leeds will be cancelled.
Replacement bus services will also be running on several routes, including: Stockport – Chester; Wigan North Western – Euxton – Preston; Stockport – Stoke on Trent; Manchester Airport-Wilmslow; Wigan Wallgate – Bolton and Wigan Wallgate – Manchester Victoria (via Atherton).
In a statement Northern said: “Recently, we have seen higher levels of cancellations in the north west and for that we are sorry. The underlying reason is train crew availability, in particular on Sundays which is contractually outside of the working week.
“Due to conductor unavailability, there will be some cancellations and alterations to our timetable on Sunday. Journeys may be longer and less frequent than usual.
“Check before travelling, particularly the last services of the day which may be earlier than usual.”
The full list of changes
North west:
A limited service will run across multiple routes. Trains will run less frequently, than usual, on many routes and the last train of the day may be earlier than usual.
On the following routes, Northern train services will not run and a limited rail replacement bus service will operate:
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Preston – Colne
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Preston – Blackpool South
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Oxenholme Lake District – Windermere
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Stockport – Chester
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Stockport – Crewe
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Wigan North Western – Euxton Balshaw Lane – Preston
The following routes are also a replacement bus service, but are already included in the scheduled short term timetable:
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Stockport – Stoke-on-Trent
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Blackburn – Clitheroe
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Lancaster – Morecambe / Heysham Port
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Manchester Airport – Wilmslow
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Southport – Manchester Victoria
The following routes are running but have large gaps in services. Check before travelling, particularly last services of the day which may be earlier than usual.
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Manchester Piccadilly – Sheffield (3 hourly)
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Manchester Piccadilly – Buxton (Road transport will run between Stockport and Buxton where required)
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Blackburn – Manchester Victoria via Todmorden (2 hourly)
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Blackburn – Manchester Victoria via Bolton (2 hourly)
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Liverpool Lime Street – Manchester Oxford Road via Newton-le-Willows (2 hourly)
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Liverpool Lime Street -Wigan (2 hourly) – early finishing and later starting trains
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Manchester Victoria – Leeds – late services cancelled
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Blackpool North – York – reduced early / late services
Yorkshire & Humber and North East:
There will be amended times and services on multiple routes.
Ticket acceptance
If your Northern train has been cancelled, you can travel on other Northern trains before or after your original time (on the same route, valid all day.
Alternatively, if your service is cancelled, you can use your ticket on TransPennine Express or LNER trains up to 2 hours before or 2 hours after at no extra cost.
Your ticket will be also be valid, at no extra cost, on the following operators:
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Avanti West Coast between Manchester Piccadilly and Stoke-on-Trent, and between Warrington Bank Quay and Oxenholme Lake District
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Bee Network Bus 192 route only between Stockport and Hazel Grove
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Blackpool Transport buses between Blackpool North – Lytham St Annes
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CrossCountry between Manchester Piccadilly and Stoke-on-Trent
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East Midlands Railway between Manchester and Liverpool Lime Street / Sheffield
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Merseyrail between Liverpool and Hunts Cross / Southport
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Metrolink between Manchester and Ashton-under-Lyne / Altrincham
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Transport for Wales between Manchester and Chester