Train strikes 2023: List of Liverpool and Lime Street rail services hit by September ASLEF and RMT action

Walk-outs are set to cause mass disruption for rail customers once again, as strike action will take place across the network this week.

Unions Aslef and RMT will be staging the action due to ongoing disputes with the government and Rail Delivery Group over pay, which have persisted for over a year.

ASLEF has announced a strike on Friday, September 1, and an overtime ban on 16 train companies across the country on Saturday, September 2, while 20,000 RMT members will also be striking on Saturday. It is likely that the strikes will also impact services on Sunday, September 3.

Services to and from Liverpool Lime Street will be ‘severely’ affected by the industrial action, with limited services to Manchester and London.

How will Liverpool train services be affected?

• Northern, which runs trains between Liverpool and Manchester, will run no services on Friday, September 1 and a small number of routes will have avery limited train service on Saturday, September 2. The Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport service will be running on Saturday, however, it will operate between approx 8.00am and 5.00pm and is expected to be ‘extremely’ busy.
• TransPennine Express (TPE), which runs services between Liverpool and Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, Liverpool and Glasgow and more, will run no services on Friday, September 1. A small number of services will run on Saturday, however, TPE warn that services will be ‘severely disrupted’ and people should only travel if ‘absolutely essential’. No Liverpool services will be running on Saturday and Sunday is likely to be disrupted.
• Avanti West Coast will not run any services on Friday, September 1. During the industrial action on September 2, Avanti West Coast will plan run four trains per hour to and from London Euston: one to each of Manchester (via Crewe and Stockport), Liverpool, Birmingham and Preston (with a limited service extending to Carlisle). The last service from Euston to Liverpool will leave at 3.43pm and Macclesfield and Runcorn stations will be closed.
• No London Northwestern Railway services will operate on Friday, September 1.  A limited service will operate on the Liverpool to Birmingham route on Saturday, between the hours of 7.00am and 7.00pm, with one train per hour.

Full list of companies affected by RMT and Aslef action

• Avanti West Coast
• c2c
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Gatwick Express
• Great Northern
• Great Western Railway
• Greater Anglia
• Heathrow Express
• Island Line - ASLEF strike only
• London Northwestern Railway
• LNER
• Northern
• South Western Railway
• Southeastern
• Southern
• Stansted Express
• Thameslink
• TransPennine Express
• West Midlands Railway

What have the unions said?

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “We don’t want to take this action but the train companies, and the government which stands behind them, have forced us into this place because they refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%.”

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch added: “The mood among our members remains solid and determined in our national dispute over pay, job security and working conditions. We have had to call further strike action as we have received no improved or revised offer from the Rail Delivery Group.”

What has the government said?

A Department for Transport spokesperson said the government has facilitated “fair and reasonable pay offers” adding “union bosses are opting to prolong this dispute by blocking their members from having a vote on these offers. We continue to urge that members are given their say and disruption is brought to an end.”