UK national rail strike: Trains not expected to run to Wembley for Norwich City v Middlesbrough Championship play-off final
UPDATE 2.45pm: The RMT has followed the TSSA union in suspending strike action after an improved offer from Network Rail.
Bad news, football fans. It looks like the national UK strike could derail plans to get to Wembley for the Championship play-off final on Monday.
The unprecedented strike – which looks set to go ahead despite days of talks between a Network Rail negotiation team and the bosses of RMT and TSSA unions – is expected to cause widespread disruption to all national rail services, as well as some TfL Tube lines.
The strike will begin at 5pm on Monday 25th May and finish at 5pm the following day, with an overtime ban affecting all of both days.
As a result, train operators are warning they will be unlikely to operate services to and from Wembley, where several thousand people are expected to descend to see Norwich City take on Middlesbrough for a place in the Premier League.
The strike at present means “there are no rail services for both 'out of London' teams”, Wembley Stadium says.
Abellio Greater Anglia, which operates trains running through Norwich, is warning that there will be no services at all on Monday after midday, and none at all on Tuesday. Services will resume on Wednesday “but there will be service disruption and alterations as we work to resume the full normal service”.
Northern Rail, which operates trains running through Middlesbrough, is running a limited service until Monday afternoon, but is expecting “nearly all of our lines” to be closed on Tuesday.
Other train operators that service the line to Wembley, including Chiltern Railways, which is planning to run a limited service during the strike, have said there will be no service for the football game.