Northern has advised its customers across Cumbria to avoid travelling on Saturday, August 26 as the latest RMT strike takes place.

The train operator has published a travel advice calendar for Friday, 25 to Monday, August 28 to highlight when services will be affected.

There will be very limited services on Saturday, August 26, with only a handful of stations able to offer an hourly service between 8am and 5pm.

Early morning services on Sunday, August 27 are also expected to be disrupted due to the impact strikes have on fleet displacement.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We know these RMT strikes will cause disruption to the general public.

“Whilst this is only a one-day strike, it falls right in the middle of the busy August bank holiday weekend and will impact people trying to get to major events taking place across region, including Leeds Festival.

“The RMT is still refusing to put the latest pay offer negotiated on behalf of train operators to a vote by their members and it is unfortunate that these strikes continue for their second summer.”

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England. 

The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “The mood among our members remains solid and determined in our national dispute over pay, job security and working conditions.

“We have had to call further strike action as we have received no improved or revised offer from the Rail Delivery Group.

“The reason for this is the government has not allowed them a fresh mandate on which discussions could be held.

“Our members and our union will continue fighting until we can reach a negotiated and just settlement.”

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A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: “With further strike action, the RMT are once again targeting customers looking to enjoy various sporting events, festivals and the end of the summer holidays, disrupting their plans and forcing more cars on to the road.

“We have now made three offers, the latest of which would have given staff pay rises of up to 13% as well as job security guarantees, and the RMT executive have blocked this without a convincing explanation.

“We remain open to talks and we have said repeatedly that we want to give our people a pay rise, but until the union leadership and executive is united in what it wants and engages in good faith with the 30% shortfall in revenue the industry is continuing to grapple with post-Covid, it is difficult to move forward.”