When are the train strikes this week and how will Harrogate passengers be affected?

Rail strikes have caused travel chaos all summer, with unions locked in long-running disputes with Network Rail over pay and working conditions.

The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has organised further strikes on Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 August.

Northern has issued a ‘Do Not Travel’ warning to customers who are planning to travel across the network on the strike dates.

The overwhelming majority of services across the operator’s 550-station network will be cancelled, with hourly services on just six routes confirmed as operational.

Running between 7.30am and 6.30pm, they are:

Leeds to Sheffield via Wakefield Westgate Leeds to York via Micklefield Leeds to Bradford Forster Square Leeds to Skipton Leeds to Ilkley Liverpool to Alderley Edge via Chat Moss, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport

Rail users should also expect significant disruption on the morning after strike days (Friday 19 and Sunday 21 August) as fleet displacement will mean services will not start until much later in the morning, after the usual rush-hour peak.

Tricia Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Northern, said: “The combination of RMT strikes and ‘work to rule’ measures by the TSSA union will make this round of industrial action worse than the two previous occasions this summer.

“We will be able to operate less than 100 of the nearly 2,000 services we would normally provide to customers across the North of England.

"We’ve done everything we can to offer a skeleton service on the parts of our network where we’re able to - but our advice, unfortunately, has to be ‘Do Not Travel’.

“We apologise in advance for the significant disruption and inconvenience this action by the RMT and TSSA will cause.

"We will continue to work towards a resolution to this issue with the hope of avoiding future strikes.”

If you have already purchased an Advance ticket for these dates and choose not to travel, you can amend the time and date fee-free up to 6pm the day before travel by heading to https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/travel-safely

For more information about the planned strikes, visit northernrailway.co.uk/strikes