Shropshire braces for rail disruption as politicians appeal for strikes to be called off

Unless talks reach a solution, three days of strikes planned by the rail union, the RMT, will hit services on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, June 21, 23, and 25.

Network Rail has said a 'special timetable' will operate a skeleton service across the country, but both of the Shropshire and Mid Wales operators – Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway, say no trains will run in the county.

This means there will be no services from Shrewsbury north towards Wrexham and Chester, north east towards Crewe and Manchester, south towards Ludlow, Hereford and Cardiff, or west to Welshpool, Newtown, and Caersws.

West Midlands Railway said it will be operating a skeleton service across Birmingham and the Black Country.

The action is likely to cause significant disruption to both commuters and holidaymakers.

There have been calls from local politicians and business leaders for the RMT and the Government to continue talks and prevent the need for the strikes.

In Shrewsbury the Saturday will see one of the county's biggest events taking place – Shrewsbury Food Festival.

The event, which takes place at The Quarry on Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26, is expected to attract more than 25,000 visitors.

Beth Heath from organisers Shropshire Festivals said there was concern about how the strike action would impact people travelling to the event.

She said: "It is frustrating because we know a considerable number of the people attending would be planning to come by train. We will be encouraging all our visitors to plan in advance and if the strikes do go ahead to take advantage of Shrewsbury's park and ride services."

Across the UK other large events face potential disruption, including Glastonbury Festival, which runs from June 22 to 26, and the Test match between England and New Zealand from June 23 to 27.

Richard Sheehan, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, called for all parties to seek a resolution to the dispute.

He said businesses were already struggling with rising costs and the recovery from two years of lockdowns and Covid restrictions.

He said: "Naturally we would urge all parties involved to reach a satisfactory conclusion before they get to a situation where they take strike action because the impact on the wider business community, people commuting, going to appointments, meeting customers, is very real.

"Add to that the tourism and hospitality businesses, which we are well populated with, and the and the impact could be very significant at a time when they are still continuing to strive to recover from the effects of Covid and all the lockdowns that came with it."

A Network Rail Wales and Borders spokeswoman said they expected the impact on the area to be significant.

She said: “Next week will be tough for passengers across Britain. This planned strike action means we simply can’t run the vast majority of passenger and freight services as we will have fewer specialist signallers available.

“Transport for Wales is not in dispute with rail unions, but its trains will be severely impacted as we rely on each other to provide services for passengers across most of Wales and Borders.

“The line between the Severn Tunnel and Cardiff will remain open with a very limited timetable. Transport for Wales is providing a shuttle service on the parts of the Core Valley Lines network it’s solely responsible for.

“Transport for Wales is advising passengers to only travel by rail, if necessary. If you do need to travel, you should check before you travel.”

Meanwhile two county MPs have also spoken of the impact expected.

Shrewsbury & Atcham Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski said: "I strongly condemn the trade unions who are going to be bringing chaos and misery to thousands of Shropshire commuters, both families, and those in business getting to work.

"I strongly urge the trade union to negotiate with their interlocutors and the government to call off these strikes which will be very damaging and make life a misery for many Salopians."

North Shropshire Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan said the strike would be frustrating for county residents.

She said: “This strike action is going to cause huge disruption to commuters, families and businesses up and down the country and will leave people in places like North Shropshire stranded as there are so few bus services.

“It’s frustrating that the rail unions are going ahead with the strike but the Government must take responsibility for failing to reach a solution after prioritising political point scoring over negotiation.

“I have sympathy for public sector workers who had their pay frozen during the pandemic. Unfortunately they are now also being failed by a Government that is so out of touch it has no understanding of how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting ordinary people. "

The RMT has said it has called for fresh talks with the Government over the issue.

In a letter to Grant Shapps, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, said: "I am writing to seek an urgent meeting with the Government, without any pre-conditions, to discuss the national rail disputes prior to the planned strike action next week and I would be grateful if this could be arranged without delay."

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: “Talks have not progressed as far as I had hoped and so we must prepare for a needless national rail strike and the damaging impact it will have. We, and our train operating colleagues, are gearing up to run the best service we can for passengers and freight users next week despite the actions of the RMT.”

Steve Montgomery, Chair of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “These strikes will affect the millions of people who use the train each day, including key workers, students with exams, those who cannot work from home, holidaymakers and those attending important business and leisure events.

“Working with Network Rail, our plan is to keep as many services running as possible, but significant disruption will be inevitable and some parts of the network will not have a service, so passengers should plan their journeys carefully and check their train times.

“Taxpayers have provided the equivalent of about £600 per household since Covid and passenger numbers are still only at around 75 per cent of pre pandemic levels. We need to bring rail up to date so that we attract more people back and take no more than our fair share from the public purse.

“We ask the RMT’s leadership to call off these damaging strikes and continue talks to reach a deal that is fair to staff and taxpayers, and which secures a bright, long-term future of our railways.”