Passengers across Chesterfield and Derbyshire urged not to travel ahead of latest rail strikes

East Midlands Railway (EMR) services will be significantly reduced next week due to industrial action by members of the RMT union.

On Thursday, July 20 and Saturday, July 22, many of its routes will be reduced to one train an hour and will only run between 7.30am and 6.30pm – with the last departures starting between 3.00pm and 4.30pm.

Between Monday, July 17 and Saturday, July 22, there will also be a number of train cancellations due to action short of a strike by the ASLEF union – this could be as late as 10.00pm the day before customers travel. During this period, customers are strongly advised to regularly check if their train is running before setting off.

Strikes will also affect services on July 29 – the details regarding this will be confirmed shortly.

During next week's strike action, customers are being advised to travel by rail only if absolutely necessary and should be aware that strike action will affect other routes across the country, with very limited services running across the whole rail network.

If a customer's train is cancelled or delayed or they choose not to travel due to strike action, tickets can be changed to another date, or they can be returned for a full refund at their point of purchase. No administration fee will be charged.

On July 20 and 22, there will be one train per hour on the following routes through Derbyshire: Sheffield – London St Pancras, Derby – Nottingham, Sheffield – Nottingham, Mansfield Woodhouse – Nottingham.

All other lines of route will be closed and no rail replacement bus services will be provided.

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Will Rogers, the Managing Director for East Midlands Railway, said: “We will be significantly reducing our services on Thursday and Saturday due to the ongoing strike organised by the RMT Union.

“Also between Monday, July 17 and Saturday, July 22, there will also be a number of train cancellations due to action short of a strike by the ASLEF union – customers should be aware services can be cancelled as late as 10.00pm the day before.

“Due to this, we strongly advise customers to check if their train is running before setting off and consider rail travel only if absolutely necessary during the strike days.

“It is recommended that customers check the departure time of their last train before embarking on their journey and familiarise themselves with the overall impact of the strike on their entire route.”