Travel early to save New Year’s Eve plans, rail passengers told
Trains were packed with revellers battling to beat New Year’s Eve travel chaos on Friday as the Met Office warned people to brace themselves for winds reaching up to 75mph over the weekend.
Photos shared on social media showed travellers forced to stand in the aisles after operators urged people to travel as early as possible to avoid missing parties and events on Sunday night.
Rail disruption is persisting across the country due to a lack of crew and severe weather.
The Met Office said there would be “strong and gusty winds” across the south of England for most of Saturday until 3am on New Year’s Eve with delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport all likely.
Meteorologists issued a yellow weather warning for high winds in the southeast, southwest, East Anglia and Wales, with gusts expected to reach 65-75mph on parts of the south and west coasts.
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Yellow warnings have also been issued for sleet and snow in Scotland[1] and rain in Northern Ireland, with possible flooding of homes and businesses.
Scotland has been warned of possible power cuts and loss of mobile phone coverage, just a few days after 27,000 homes experienced blackouts because of Storm Gerrit.
The country is still recovering from this week’s severe weather. The River Severn burst its banks in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
SWNS
The UK is still recovering from the storm that swept across the country on Thursday. It prompted the Met Office to pledge to review its weather alerts, after people in Scotland claimed they were blindsided by the storm’s ferocity.
Yellow warnings issued by the UK’s weather service had suggested a low chance of severe impacts from the storm, which battered much of the country with 80mph winds, blizzards and heavy rain, leaving flooding and fallen trees in its wake, as well as a backlog of stranded passengers.
Northern Rail, the UK’s second-largest train operator, said customers with tickets for New Year’s Eve could use them on Saturday to avoid disruption as it issued a “do not travel” warning for six routes with no service on New Year’s Eve.
The rail operator told passengers: “We will be operating a reduced service across the northwest due to train crew unavailability.”
Northern Trains staff who are based west of the Pennines are not compelled to work on Sundays and so services on New Year’s Eve rely on overtime, as they would on any other Sunday.
CrossCountry, which calls at 120 stations over its 1,500-mile network, said New Year’s Eve trains would be “extremely busy”. The operator, which has faced recent staff shortages, warned of last-minute cancellations and an earlier finish than usual.
Lack of available train crews could affect services over the new year period
JAMES MANNING/PA
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Thameslink told passengers to expect “major disruption” from the afternoon of New Year’s Eve due to issues with the availability of train crew, with a “significantly reduced” timetable and cancellations. The route between Bedford and London is expected to be most affected. Passengers “should expect to wait for several hours between departures”, it warned.
The operator said there would also be “far fewer trains between London and Brighton”, adding that “trains that do run will be exceptionally busy and you may not be able to board the first train to your destination, further extending your wait”. Replacement buses will not be provided.
Thameslink will not run overnight on New Year’s Eve, while Chiltern Railways also warned of a “high risk of short-notice cancellations and disruption” on all routes this weekend due to staffing problems.
One passenger on board a Chiltern Railways train from London Marylebone to Oxford on Friday said the service was “absolutely packed to capacity”.
Another passenger on board an Avanti West Coast train posted a photo of people forced to stand in a cramped aisle, writing: “Now a three-hour stand up to London from Birmingham.”
Another person complained: “On a train from the 5th biggest city in the UK to the 2nd. Three carriages, totally packed and only one functioning loo. Again. I just don’t understand why they don’t put on longer trains?”