New Year's Eve revellers told to travel as early as Friday to avoid weekend of train chaos
29 December 2023, 08:09
Passengers travelling for New Year's Eve celebrations are being urged to travel as early as today amid fears of weekend cancellations and disruption.
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Train operators worry about a lack of staff hindering services in the run up to Sunday night.
It follows days of disruption from Storm Gerrit, which hit the network with flooding and fallen trees, while the issue was made worse by engineering works and a shortage of drivers.
Northern Rail has told its customers that tickets for services on Sunday can be used from Friday.
it warned its services may end early, finish at different stations or get scrapped due to engineering works.
"Unfortunately, customers travelling over the new year period should expect disruption," said the company's chief operating officer Tricia Williams.
"This is due to limited train crew availability in some areas and planned engineering works. We strongly advise customers to check before you travel on those days."
CrossCountry has also said that tickets bought before Thursday's disruption can be used on Saturday or New Year's Day, warning of "extremely busy" trains that could be scrapped at the last moment.
And Chiltern Railways said its services are at a "high risk of short-notice cancellations and disruption".
Commuters faced a perfect storm this week as Storm Gerrit added to disruption caused by staff shortages and engineering works.
Read more: Shocking moment wind turbine is blown apart after Storm Gerrit brought 85mph winds to Britain
The Met Office is going to review its weather alerts after complaints it did not adequately warn about Gerrit's impact.
A tree fell on power lines between Rugby and Lichfield Trent Valley, leading to delays on the West Coast Main Line, while Scotland has seen a series of cancellations in the bad weather.
LNER stopped trains between Edinburgh and Aberdeen due to flooding, while ScotRail was forced to axe a number of services from Glasgow Central and suspend services from Inverness to Perth via Sterling.
Trains to and from Paddington were halted after a person was hit and killed by a train at Iver station in Buckinghamshire, which also affected the Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express.
