Rail passengers warned to expect delays on busiest weekend of the year

Rail passengers are being warned to expect delays and cancellations across the North West network on one of the busiest weekends of the year.

A series of festivals and events are being held across the region the bank holiday weekend.

But a combination of strikes and engineering work are expected to cause major problems for rail passengers.

Events taking place this weekend include Manchester Pride, Creamfields, the Bolton Food and Drink Festival and the Leeds Festival. Thousands are also expected to head for Blackpool to enjoy the last bank holiday of the summer.

Northern Rail has announced a number of cancellations due to driver shortages and strike action is being planned.

Services to London will also be affected due to the ongoing improvement works at Euston Station.

There were hopes that last-ditch talks between the RMT Union and operators would see strike action called off on Northern Rail services.

But the strike, which is centred on a dispute on guards on trains, will go ahead on Saturday.

According to reports up to 70 per cent of services on Northern Rail could be affected.

Meanwhile, Network Rail are carrying out engineering works on the Bolton corridor as part of the electrification of the Manchester to Preston line.

Liam Sumpter, regional director for Northern, said: “We plan to run as many services as possible on Saturday, but there will be fewer trains operating than on previous days of RMT strike action and we want all customers to be fully aware of the amended timetable.

“Some routes will have no services at all, while others will have a limited service. On those routes where we are able to operate trains, we expect all services to be extremely busy.”