East Midlands Railway's (EMR) is urging customers planning to travel to football fixtures or the Eurovision song contest by train to consider alternative plans due to rail strikes this weekend.
The Midlands operator will be running no services today (May 12) and will operate a significantly reduced timetable tomorrow due to the latest round of industrial action by members of the RMT and ASLEF unions.
The 2023 Eurovision Grand Final takes place in Liverpool on Saturday, and Nottingham Forest play at Chelsea the same day.
EMR services will only be running between 7am and 7pm – with the last departures starting between 3pm and 4.30pm and travelers are being warned to only travel by rail if they have no choice.
The strikes will also affect other train operating companies and their services across the country.
EMR said there will just be one intercity train per hour on Saturday between Nottingham and London St Pancras, and one per hour between Sheffield and St Pancras.
EMR Connect will operate one train per hour between Corby and St Pancras, while EMR Regional services to places such as Derby, Matlock, Lincoln and Grantham will also be restricted.
EMR managing director Will Rogers said: "Customers who are considering to use rail to attend football fixtures or the Eurovision final later this week are strongly advised to check when the time of their last train is before setting off and understand how the strike action affects their whole journey.
"Unfortunately, we will be unable to run any services on Friday and only a limited number on Saturday - where we are advising customers to plan ahead and only travel by rail if absolutely necessary."
More rail strikes are planned for the end of May and early June, with services set to be affected by an overtime ban between Monday, May 15 and Saturday, May 20.
