TRAIN operator Northern has advised passengers in the north west to ‘check before you travel’ on Sundays in December.

This is due to planned engineering works and the potential for short-notice cancellations.

It comes as Northern is proposing to introduce an amended Sunday timetable in the north west next month.

The train operator says it is to provide passengers with more certainty about those services it will be able to run and to reduce the number of short-notice cancellations.

The amended timetable, which Northern hopes to introduce from Sunday, December 22, will have fewer services on Sundays in the north west.

Northern says the proposed changes to the Sunday timetable come after RMT union members rejected its enhanced four-month pay offer for conductors to work on Sundays during a recent referendum vote.

It says that the offer would have seen them double the money they get for working on Sundays.

The situation with conductor availability is expected to worsen over the Christmas period, the operator says, with fewer conductors volunteering to work extra shifts or overtime.

Network Rail has also announced engineering projects will affect services on various routes across the Northern network.

If Northern is forced to cancel services, it will look to provide rail replacement services for customers where possible, it adds.

For all the latest information on routes affected by engineering works, ticket acceptance and refunds, customers are asked to visit northernrailway.co.uk/christmas-engineering

Matt Rice, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We are disappointed that our offer for conductors to work on Sundays was rejected.

“We would like to say sorry to everyone in the north west who will be affected by this disruption in the run-up to Christmas.

"We believe the deal that was put to RMT members was fair and reasonable, and if it had been accepted, it would have improved reliability in the short-term while we worked with the RMT to secure a longer-term agreement.

"Despite this setback, we will continue to work with colleagues and the RMT union to find a new way forward.

“Our performance in the north west has not been good enough for some time, and we understand the impact it has on our customers."

He added: “Across the rail network, the Christmas period is an opportunity for Network Rail to carry out engineering.

“For those wanting to travel over this time, we are asking them to check their journey as close to the day or travel as possible to see if these works will affect their journey.”