Avanti West Coast tells customers not to travel during latest industrial action

• No Avanti West Coast services will operate on August 13 strike
• Customers told not to travel and claim a refund or rearrange journey
• Avanti West Coast advises football fans to seek alternative transport

Avanti West Coast is advising customers not to travel during the next strike action as no services will be operating across any of its routes.

Strike action by the train driver’s union, ASLEF, on Saturday 13 August will mean the intercity operator is unable to operate any of its services along its west coast route for the whole day.

The action has been coordinated by ASLEF across other train operators. As a result, options to travel by rail will be extremely limited on the West Coast Main Line between London, Scotland, and North Wales. Many destinations will have no rail connectivity on 13 August and rail replacement services will not be in place either.  

With no Avanti West Coast trains running to and from all destinations on the West Coast Main Line, customers are being told not travel on Saturday 13 August and instead claim a refund, seek alternative transport or rearrange journeys for another date.

The strike will affect those intending to travel by rail to Premier League fixtures in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 August.

Customers with tickets for 13 August can claim a full refund from their point of purchase. Alternatively, customers with tickets dated 13 August can use those tickets to travel either the day before, or up to and including 16 August.

Managing Director of Avanti West Coast, Phil Whittingham, said: “Yet again our customers will bear the brunt of industrial action and will face a weekend of misery as a result.

“With the summer holidays in full swing and the return of the Premier League, this action will ruin many people’s plans. We’re obviously disappointed by ASLEF’s decision to go on strike, which we believe is unnecessary and premature. We would urge them to engage in meaningful industry reform talks around modernising working practices and developing a railway fit for the 21^st century and we remain open for talks at any time.

“Our route will be severely impacted on 13 August. As a result, we’re telling customers not to travel and instead make their journeys on another date or claim a full refund. Many destinations on the West Coast Main Line will have no rail connectivity on this day, so anyone who needs to travel should seek alternative transport. Again, I would like to reiterate my thanks to our customers for being patient and understanding as our services face further disruption.”

Further strike action by the RMT and TSSA is planned for 18 and 20 August, which will impact Avanti West Coast services.

ENDS