Chiltern Railways warns Aylesbury passengers to only travel if 'absolutely essential' ahead of major strikes

Chiltern Railways whose trains are used by Aylesbury commuters who travel into London for work have sent out an urgent warning regarding its service next week.

From 21 June to 25 June it will be running a limited service which is expected to affect ‘most routes’.

Next week the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has planned strikes that will ‘shut down’ the UK’s railways for three days.

A Chiltern Railways spokesperson said: “We expect to have significantly less staff to service and prepare the number of trains we would normally need to operate the timetable.

"Coupled with the fact we are unable to position our fleet how we normally would, this means that we will have to operate a heavily reduced timetable on non-strike days during the week.”

Chiltern Railways warns that travellers heading north will face additional delays and issues due to engineering work in the Birmingham area between Monday 20 June and Thursday 23 June.

On Monday, no Chiltern Railways services north of Dorridge will be in operation.

There will be no service north of Banbury, or to Oxford, between Tuesday 21 June and Saturday 25 June.

Passengers looking to travel to Leamington Spa or Birmingham New Street that week will need to join an hourly CrossCountry service at Banbury.

Chiltern Railways cannot assist fans heading to see Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium on Friday and Saturday, the rail service has conceded.

Chiltern Railways services will be unable to call at stations operated by London Underground on Tuesday 21 June due to planned tube strikes.

If customers cannot travel via an alternate method during the planned strikes they are advised to check Chiltern Railways website before setting off on their travels.

Eleni Jordan, commercial and customer strategy director for Chiltern Railways, said:“We are disappointed that the RMT industrial action, if it goes ahead, will bring severe disruption across our network.

"We are calling on customers to travel only if essential between 21 and 25 June and seek alternative transport where possible.

“We have worked tirelessly with our train planning team and industry partners to ensure that we can provide as many services as possible during the week that the strike action is planned – and keep people moving as best we can.”

Chiltern Railways has provided the following revised schedule:

Monday 20 June

No service north of Dorridge due to planned engineering works (no rail replacement bus service) Some services will finish earlier (normal finish unless otherwise stated) Last trains from Marylebone:

22:37 to Dorridge23:52 to Oxford and Banbury (all stations)

Tuesday 21 June, Thursday 23 June and Saturday 25 June (strike days)

Service starts at 07:30AM Last trains from Marylebone:

15:10 to Banbury16:10 to Bicester North16:45 to Aylesbury Vale Parkway via High Wycombe

Two trains per hour from London:

One train to Banbury/Bicester NorthOne train to Aylesbury Vale Parkway via High WycombeOne train per hour between Amersham and Aylesbury (except on Tuesday 21 June due to London Underground strike action – no trains between Aylesbury and Great Missenden)

Wednesday 22 June, Friday 24 June (non-strike days, services still affected)

Service starts at 07:30AM Last trains from Marylebone:

21:10 to Banbury22:10 to Bicester North22:45 to Aylesbury Vale Parkway via High Wycombe

Two trains per hour from London: One train to Banbury/Bicester North One train to Aylesbury Vale Parkway via High Wycombe One train per hour between Amersham and Aylesbury

Sunday 26 June

Amended Sunday timetable in operation from 09:00AM First services from Oxford/Birmingham:

11:11 from Oxford11:17 from Birmingham Moor Street