A YORK train operator is asking people NOT to travel on its trains this Sunday.

TransPennine Express, whose trains run from York to cities including Leeds, Manchester an Liverpool, says it doesn't issue ‘do not travel’ advice lightly, but it has to be realistic and it needs customers to understand the difficulties they will face if they try to travel with it on Sunday.

It says industrial relations issues, including action short of a strike by Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) members, means TPE will only be able to operate a small percentage of its usual services and, with an Ed Sheeran concert at the Etihad Stadium and the Parklife festival at Heaton Park in Manchester, any services it is able to run will be very busy.

Kathryn O’Brien, Customer Experience Director, said: “We’re really sorry for any disruption to people’s plans. I’m now calling on our customers to look carefully at their journey options and seek alternative modes of transport, particularly for travel after the events as we simply will not have capacity to get people where they need to be.”

A spokesperson said TPE was working on finalising its amended timetable for Sunday and would publish details of services it is able to operate later this week.