A FRESH wave of rail strikes will bring even more misery for Bolton commuters tomorrow and Monday.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Arriva Rail North are staging walkouts once again amid a bitter row over the role of guards and driver-only trains.

Northern Rail is warning all passengers — but especially those around the Bolton area — only to travel if their journey is absolutely necessary.

Northern’s regional director, Sharon Keith, said: “Our priority is to keep customers informed and updated on both days of strike action as we try to keep the region moving.

“We are operating a limited service across our network on both days from 7am until 7pm, with trains finishing earlier in some places. We have focussed on ensuring our busier routes between major towns and cities maintain a good level of service throughout the day, while replacement bus services will be available on some routes where there are no trains.

“We are asking customers to plan ahead carefully and consider whether their journey needs to be made as all trains will be far busier than normal.”

Customers who experience a journey delay of 30 minutes or more can claim compensation through Northern’s Delay Repay scheme.

Revised train timetables can be found at northernrailway.co.uk/industrialaction