Rail strike: Wales will have only a handful of routes
- Published
The action is expected to cause disruption to services in Wales, England and Scotland
Just a handful of train routes will run in Wales when rail workers go on strike next week, Network Rail has said.
During the action Transport for Wales (TfW) will run a service from Radyr, in Cardiff, to Treherbert, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare.
A replacement bus service will take passengers from Radyr to Cardiff Central.
The only other service that will run is Great Western Railway's (GWR) Cardiff to Severn Tunnel route.
Strikes will "shut down" the railway network on 21, 23 and 25 June, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said.
TfW's managing director, Jan Chaudhry Van Der Velde, said TfW was not in dispute with the unions but would still be affected.
"That's because the vast majority of our lines rely on Network Rail signallers to keep the trains moving," he added.
"On the strike days next week we will have a situation where very few of our trains will be able to run because of the strike action at Network Rail.
"For the rest of the network, we will be in a position where we cannot run any trains on those strike days at all."
People who have already booked tickets will be able to use them on another day or get a full refund.
Just two trains will run in Wales, according to Network Rail
Workers at Network Rail, which maintains the railways throughout Britain, will also strike.
Network Rail Wales and Borders said it believed next week would be "tough" for passengers.
"This planned strike action means we simply can't run the vast majority of passenger and freight services as we will have fewer specialist signallers available," a spokesman said.
"Transport for Wales is not in dispute with rail unions, but its trains will be severely impacted as we rely on each other to provide services for passengers across most of Wales and Borders.
"The line between the Severn Tunnel and Cardiff will remain open with a very limited timetable. Transport for Wales is providing a shuttle service on the parts of the core Valley lines network it's solely responsible for."
Train driver members of the Aslef union will strike over pay at Greater Anglia on 23 June, on 26 June at Hull Trains and on Croydon Tramlink on 28, 29 June and 13 and 14 July.
In Scotland, the RMT has announced a strike ballot over ScotRail's pay offer, although it is not yet known when any action will take place.
About 4,500 services, compared with 20,000 normally, will run during the strikes, according to Network Rail.
Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual, between 07:30 and 18:30.
Disruption is also expected on non-strike days, because of too few staff working overnight.
A special timetable from 20 to 26 June will be published on Friday.
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