Commuters are being warned that no trains will run from Bolton as strikes take place this week.
Northern will be unable to operate any services on two dates as a result of the latest strike action by the ASLEF and RMT unions, a situation the train operator has called a ‘fresh disappointment’ for customers.
ASLEF and RMT members employed in the role of train drivers will strike on Wednesday, February 1 and Friday, February 3, bringing all Northern services across the region to a halt.
This means no Northern Trains or TransPennine Express trains will be calling at Bolton Station.
Since the last industrial action came to an end in early January, Northern has been operating its new ‘December 22’ timetable, which brought with it extra services across its network and has seen cancellations reduced for both on the day and planned cancellations.
Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “Our new timetable, which is fully resourced and agreed with the trade unions, was designed to give our operations an increased resilience, and in the first few weeks of it operating, early signs are suggesting it is doing just that.
“All we can do is apologise to our customers for the disruption this action by ASLEF and the RMT will cause and hope a resolution to this dispute can be found very soon.”
Unions maintain the pay offer is way below the rate of inflation, while jobs and conditions would be affected by conditions attached to the proposed deal.
It comes after a wave of strikes last year in disputes over pay.
Bolton Station was forced to close for a day last year as the strikes reached a peak and no trains were operating at all.
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A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said: “Having made an initial offer which would have taken average driver salaries from £60,000 to nearly £65,000, we had hoped the Aslef leadership would engage constructively to move talks forward, rather than staging more unnecessary strikes.
"We can only apologise for the disruption."
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
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