Chiltern Railways have apologised for ‘the inconvenience caused’ to its customers following delays caused by industrial action and planned engineering work.

The RMT (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) confirmed strikes will take place on several days during the festive season over a dispute over pay, which has seen workers not receive an increase in their salary for three years.

Coupled with planned engineering work on lines that would impact parts of Buckinghamshire, Chiltern Railways have issued a ‘do not travel notice’ for today [December 27] and tomorrow [December 28].

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In a statement that was released on December 27, they said: “As you are aware, Chiltern Railways services are currently severely impacted by the ongoing RMT industrial action (strikes and an overtime ban).

“The RMT action has reduced staffing levels at Chiltern’s train maintenance locations, which means we can’t service and fuel enough trains to run our normal timetable until Monday, January 9.

“On December 27 and 28, the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Birmingham will be closed due to planned engineering work.

“This work has been planned for months but more recently industrial action has been announced by RMT and TSSA unions that will affect services operated by Chiltern, GWR, CrossCountry, and West Midlands Railway on 27 and 28 December.  

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“As a result, given the extreme constraints on train travel between the West Midlands and London on December 27 and 28, we have made the difficult decision to urge customers not to use our services on those dates and instead to travel on other days.

“We have therefore issued a DO NOT TRAVEL notice for December 27 and 28.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused by this ongoing disruption due to industrial action.”