Mourners wanting to use West Coast Main Line to pay respects to the Queen face chaos as industrial action hampers service bosses putting on extra trains

• There is an ongoing industrial dispute on 399-mile Avanti west coast mainline
• No extra services yet timetabled for weekend, says internal memorandum
• This is set to impact mourners trying to travel to capital to pay respects to Queen
• Train operators said they would run additional services for 750,000 mourners
• Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing

Hundreds of thousands of mourners who want to use one of Britain’s busiest railways to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II face chaos as extra services to London this weekend have not yet been put on by bosses amid an ongoing industrial dispute.

A long-running row over pay and working conditions on the 399-mile Avanti West Coast Main Line is set to impact those attempting to travel to the capital from Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow over the weekend.

So far, additional services have been scheduled by the firm until Friday, with four extra return journeys timetabled for today between London and Manchester as well as three extra round-trips scheduled for Friday.

This is according to an internal memorandum shared with industry chiefs – the ‘stakeholder bulletin’ – seen by The Daily Telegraph.

A long-running row over pay and working conditions on the 399-mile Avanti west coast mainline is set to impact those attempting to travel to the capital from Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow over the weekend

Extra services to London this weekend have not yet been put on by one of Britain’s busiest railways amid an ongoing industrial dispute despite the expectation of hundreds of thousands of mourners descending on the city to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Crowds are pictured gathered to watch the hearse carrying her coffin in Edinburgh yesterday

But, so far, no additional services have been timetabled for the weekend, as it says, ‘We are acutely aware that Saturday and Sunday are likely to be extremely busy with people from all over the UK travelling to London to pay their respects. Saturdays and Sundays are particularly difficult at the current time as they had [sic] the highest reliance on overtime.

‘Nevertheless, we are examining what opportunities there are for additional services on those days and we will keep you informed. We are also actively looking at the possibility of chartering additional trains to help carry our passengers and are in discussions with potential providers.’

This summer, Avanti was forced to cut services between Manchester and London down from three trains an hour to just one.

The blame from bosses has fallen on ‘staffing issues’.

Managing director Paul Whittingham was forced to quit his role following his accusations against drivers union Aslef that it was launching ‘unofficial strike action’.

The Queen’s coffin arrived in London from Edinburgh this evening. The hearse carrying the coffin is pictured arriving at Buckingham Palace. For one night the coffin will lie at rest in the palace’s bow room before the late monarch is handed to the nation to allow the public to pay their respects when she lies in state at the ancient Westminster Hall for four days

Passengers at Euston station in London this summer following train cancellations, as London mayor Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham criticised Avanti West Coast for drastically reducing its timetables, branding the decision ‘completely unacceptable’

The prospect of the line being nationalised once again entered the discussion last week after mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (pictured) criticised the line

The prospect of the line being nationalised once again entered the discussion last week after mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham criticised the line.

On Monday, train operators did say that they would run additional services to enable an estimated 750,000 mourners to travel to London in the upcoming days.

The Queen’s coffin arrived in London from Edinburgh this evening. For one night the coffin will lie at rest in Buckingham Palace’s bow room before the late monarch is handed to the nation to allow the public to pay their respects when she lies in state at the ancient Westminster Hall for four days.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners are expected to descend on the capital to catch a glimpse of the Queen’s coffin before her funeral on Monday. 

Source: Read Full Article