Rail bosses have announced extra services running beteween Manchester and London to acccommodate mourners travelling the capital following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Avanti West Coast had previously been running a reduced timetable between the cities due to an "unofficial strike" from staff. But to assist those who wish to travel to London to pay tribute to the late Queen, they are adding 'up to eight additional services a day' on weekdays this week - a total of 16,000 extra seats.
Tickets are also now on sale for this Sunday, with Saturday tickets expected to be on sale within the next 24 hours. However, rail bosses have warned that they expect the weekend services to be 'extremely busy', and are telling passengers to book as early in advance as possible.
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Today, Avanti will be operating 26 services between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston, starting at 5:55am and ending at 21:15. However, it is reccommended that passengers check the website or app for full timetables.
There are currently no extra services scheduled for the weekend, but Avanti say they are looking into opportunities for additional services.
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: “With the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we are expecting a great many mourners to visit London on our services. We want to ensure that everyone who wants to travel on our trains to pay their respects can do so, and have been working hard to see where we can put on additional services for the period of mourning.
"With that in mind, we have been able to put in place up to eight additional services a day on our busiest route between London and Manchester. This will add a total of around 16,000 extra seats.
“We expect services to be very busy so ask people to check before they travel and allow plenty of time for their journey.”
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