Northern set to reduce Sunday timetable in December after unions reject offer

Northern is set to introduce a reduced Sunday timetable in the North West after conductors rejected an offer to work on Sundays.

The operator has had to issue a series of ‘do not travel’ warnings to passengers on Sundays in recent months.

The operator has now said that in a bid to reduce the number of short-term cancellations, it plans to introduce a reduced timetable from Sunday December 22. At present the operator is scheduled to run around 1,500 Sunday services.

Nearly all conductors in the North West (95%) do not have Sunday working included in their contracts. The operator put forward a four-month pay offer for conductors to work on Sundays, claiming they’d get double pay, but this has been rejected by the RMT.

Northern has said the conductor shortage is “expected to worsen over the Christmas period, with fewer conductors volunteering to work extra shifts or overtime”.

Matt Rice, Chief Operating Officer at Northern apologised to customers who will be affected, and said he was “disappointed” the offer was rejected.

"We believe the deal that was put to RMT members was fair and reasonable and, if it had been accepted, would have improved reliability in the short-term while we worked with the RMT to secure a longer-term agreement,” he said.

“Despite this setback, we will continue to work with colleagues and the RMT union to find a new way forward.

“Our performance in the North West has not been good enough for some time and we understand the impact it has on our customers."

An RMT spokesman said: "Our members have rejected the offer from the employer and we are now seeking further talks with the company to resolve this issue.”

Northern has asked customers to ‘Check Before You Travel’ ahead of the Christmas period, with engineering work also set to affect services on multiple routes in both the North West and Yorkshire.