Services on CrossCountry will be ‘significantly’ reduced over the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend, and there will be no trains at all on Saturday.

The RMT is continuing industrial action in its dispute with CrossCountry over overtime and rest day working, and is staging walkouts on Saturday and Monday.

CrossCountry is also warning that some services on the intervening Sunday may be cancelled as well.

There will be trains on some routes on Monday, but they will only offer a ‘very limited’ service, and some CrossCountry trains will also be delayed by engineering work in the West Midlands, where Network Rail is replacing track between Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street throughout the weekend at Garrison Street and Tyseley.

The Monday timetable will not include trains between Birmingham, Reading and the south coast, nor between Leicester and Stansted Airport. Services north of York and to Plymouth and Penzance will be ‘very limited’.

CrossCountry managing director Shiona Rolfe said: ‘We are disappointed for our passengers that the RMT has announced strikes on Saturday 23 and Monday 25 August. It is hugely disappointing to not operate any services on Saturday, knowing the inevitable disruption to many of our passengers’ journeys over the Bank Holiday weekend. We are committed to reaching an agreement with the RMT and remain available to continue talks.’

The walkouts are the latest in a series of weekend strikes which began in May and are set to continue until 25 October.

Earlier this year, RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: ‘CrossCountry is trying to wriggle out of agreements and block fair pay for our members.

‘We will not accept that and our members have been left with no choice but to take industrial action. Our members deserve proper recognition for the work they do, and we will campaign until they get it. 

‘We urge the employer and DfT to negotiate properly and help us reach a negotiated settlement.’

CrossCountry is run by Arriva under a National Rail Contract. The operator is set to be renationalised in 2027.

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