“Significantly reduced timetable” still in place between Peterborough and Nottingham this weekend despite strike being called off

Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) had previously voted to take industrial action this Friday and Saturday (December 3-4) to coincide with Posh’s trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday and the start of the Lincoln Christmas Market.

Late on Thursday (December 2), however, the action was called off. Unfortunately for passengers, EMR has confirmed that this decision was taken too late to reinstate a normal timetable for the two days.

This means that fans travelling to the match or to any other locations on the EMR line will still face disruption.

In order to make kick-off on time, Posh fans will either have to take a rail replacement bus service from Peterborough to Grantham to then catch an EMR service to Nottingham or take a train to Leicester and change there. These services are expected to be especially busy because of this.

Fans have been advised to double check their transport plans. Posh have sold their full allocation of 2000 for the match.

A spokesperson for EMR said: “Please be aware a significantly reduced timetable will be in place across the East Midlands Railway network on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th December. EMR urges customers to make alternative travel arrangements to visit Lincoln Christmas Market.

“Although the RMT have now suspended their strike action, the extremely short notice provided means EMR will still be operating a reduced timetable.

“The strike was timed to coincide with Lincoln Christmas Market as well as a number of major football matches.

“As such, EMR Regional, EMR Intercity and EMR Connect services will all be significantly reduced.

“EMR has done everything it can to prioritise services to and from Lincoln. However, it is clear this level of service will not be sufficient to provide adequate capacity for the thousands of customers expected to travel to Lincoln over the weekend and therefore EMR is urging visitors to use alternative methods and not travel with East Midlands Railway. This is particularly acute for services between Nottingham and Lincoln.”