Further disruption for Chesterfield and Derbyshire residents with more rail strikes starting this week

East Midlands Railway (EMR) will be running a significantly reduced level of service on Friday, December 2 and Saturday, December 3 due to industrial action by members of Unite the Union.

During the strike days, customers are advised to travel only if absolutely necessary – and passengers should ensure they check the time of their last return train.

Other operators are not affected by the industrial action, and therefore customers who intend to use EMR and another operator to complete their journey should carefully check to see if that trip can still be completed.

On both strike days, services will run between 7.30am and 6.30pm only. On Friday, there will be one hourly service on the Sheffield to London and Derby to Matlock lines. A normal service will run on the Robin Hood line between Nottingham and Worksop.

On Saturday, services will run at the same level – although trains bound for London will stop at Luton due to engineering works taking place over the weekend.

Replacement buses will run between Luton and Hitchin, connecting with Great Northern / Thameslink services between Hitchin and London St Pancras International / London Kings Cross. Customers should allow extra time to complete their journeys.

As in previous strikes, EMR has been working with colleagues across the railway to ensure they can deliver a robust and reliable service for their customers where possible.

However, customers are strongly advised to check the EMR website, information in stations and social media for the latest advice and information.

READ THIS: Unlicensed youth crashed Mini when police turned up at Chesterfield drug deal

Timetables for all services will be available shortly and will appear on journey planners from Wednesday, November 30.

Will Rogers, managing director for East Midlands Railway, said: “As a result of strike action being taken by Unite the Union, we will be operating a significantly reduced service on Friday and Saturday.

"The impact of industrial action has specifically affected the operation of our train depots and reduces our ability to run our normal timetable.

"We are advising customers to plan ahead and only travel by rail if absolutely necessary on strike days. Customers are also strongly advised to check when the time of their last train is before setting off, understand how the strike action affects their whole journey and take note of the impact of planned engineering works.

"More detailed advice, including daily travel information, is available on our website."

Rail replacement bus services will not be provided where lines are closed as there is not enough capacity to meet demand.