Aylesbury commuters warned to only travel "if absolutely essential" as Chiltern Railways releases reduced schedule

Chiltern Railways has warned commuters on its rail line to only travel "if absolutely essential" in January 2023.

The rail operator’s schedule will be reduced throughout the first week of next year due to planned industrial action.

With workers from two major UK unions picketing in the first week of January no trains will be running on certain days.

On other dates there will be just one train per hour reaching popular locations on the Chiltern rail line.

Strikes have been announced by National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January.

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) union members are also striking next Thursday (5 January).

A Chiltern Railways spokesman advised: “If travelling is a necessity, customers should triple-check their full journey on the Chiltern Railways website or app before attempting to travel.”

People can check whether their journey will be affected by strike action, by visiting The Chiltern Railways website here.

On 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8 January the rail operator is running a reduced service.

There will be no Chiltern Railways services north of Banbury or south of Amersham, and services will start later and finish much earlier than usual (between approximately 15.00 and 16.00).

On 2 January, trains will run later into the evening. Customers should check their last train before they attempt to travel.

A very limited service will be in operation throughout each day. During times of operation, there will be four trains per hour:

Marylebone to stations to Oxford Parkway (via Bicester Village, and vice-versa) Marylebone to stations to Aylesbury (via High Wycombe, and vice-versa) Marylebone to stations to Banbury (and vice-versa) Aylesbury Vale Parkway to stations to Amersham (and vice-versa)

On 5 and 6 January no trains will be running on the Chiltern rail line.

Due to drivers’ strikes on Thursday and staff shortages the following date.

The spokesman added: “Chiltern Railways would like to apologise to the customers and communities it serves for the very significant inconvenience that they are experiencing due to the ongoing RMT and ASLEF industrial action.”