MAJOR disruption is set to hit rail services again this weekend.

Transpennine Express (TPE) has asked passengers to avoid travel on Sunday (March 20) as conductors continue with the latest in a number of planned strikes by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.

The rail operator has released an amended timetable for this Sunday, that will see a significant reduction in available services on the Manchester to York service via Huddersfield and Leeds and journeys from York to Scarborough.

They say anyone planning on using TPE services on Sunday, March 20 should avoid travel and plan journeys either side of the strike date instead.

Trains that are running will be extremely busy, and people making an essential journey are strongly urged to plan carefully and check before they travel via the TPE website or National Rail Enquiries. Also bikes will not be permitted on-board TPE trains on Sunday.

This will be the fifth day of action taken by the rail union, with further strikes planned on Sundays March 27 and April 3 and on the weekends of April 16 and 17, April 30 and May 1 and June 4 and 5, causing further, extended disruption to people’s journeys.

Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Experience Director for TransPennine Express said: “This will be the sixth weekend that strike action by RMT will impact customers across our network, at a time when more and more are returning to rail and relying on our services to get them to work or to visit friends and family.

“Due to the strike, we will only be able to run a relatively small number of trains on Sunday, and are urging people to avoid travel and instead, travel either side of the strike day.”

For those making an essential journey on Sunday, TPE has arranged ticket acceptance with several other train companies to help them get from a to b. TPE tickets will be accepted on Northern, Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, Lumo, LNER (between York and Edinburgh), ScotRail, Hull Trains (between Hull-Brough/Doncaster only) and Transport for Wales services. Ticket acceptance is also in place for FirstBus services in West Yorkshire . for customers who may need to use a bus service to complete a rail journey. Some exclusions will apply and full details are available online.

Further information on the strikes can be found here.