Warning issued to rail passengers ahead of “extremely busy” weekend

Bournemouth railway station (Image: Newsquest)

RAIL passengers have been warned train crew shortages could lead to service cancellations this weekend.

CrossCountry said changes at short notice and cancellations are expected to impact services on Saturday, December 30, and Sunday, December 31.

The rail operator said services that go ahead are set to be “extremely busy” and customers are advised to check their entire journey before travelling.

As usual over New Year’s Eve, rail services by all train operators will finish earlier than normal so that planned engineering work can take place on the rail network over the bank holiday.

Mark Goodall, CrossCountry’s service delivery director, said: "We know that a lot of people are travelling over the festive period and we’re sorry that services around New Year’s Eve this year are likely to be impacted by train crew availability.

“I’d ask that customers check before they travel and continue to be respectful to on-train colleagues who are working as hard as they can to get people where they want to be.”

Customers with tickets for journeys operated by CrossCountry services purchased on or before Thursday, December 28 can instead travel on Saturday, December 30 or Monday, January 1 instead for no additional charge.

For journeys involving connections with other train operators, customers should check with the relevant operators for details on ticket acceptance before travelling.