Euro 2024: York trains cancelled as crews refuse to work overtime

LNER, which operates the East Coast Main Line, and Northern, whose services run between York and Leeds, were among those that cancelled services at short notice because of the issue.

Many train drivers and other crew members do not have Sunday working included in their contracts, with numerous operators often relying on them volunteering to work extra paid shifts to run timetabled services on that day.

Sunday working is part of the usual roster for drivers employed by LNER, but the publicly-owned firm announced shortly before 6pm on Saturday it had cancelled 13 services on the following day – including eight between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh – due to “a shortage of train crew”.

LNER cancelled 13 services on Sunday (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

An LNER spokesperson said: “We are sorry that we had to make a small number of unavoidable timetable changes. When this happens we proactively contact customers who have booked directly via e-mail. We also use social media channels and live updates on our website and from our app. Customers are always advised to check before they travel.”

At other rail companies, many train drivers and other crew members do not have Sunday working included in their contracts, with numerous operators often relying on them volunteering to work extra paid shifts to run timetabled services on that day.

Unions must give 14 days’ notice of official strike action, but drivers can wait until just a handful of days in advance before confirming if they will work on a rest day.

'Perfect storm'

A rail industry source described Sunday as a “perfect storm” for poor staff availability due England’s match against Serbia combined with it being Father’s Day and also the forecast of warmer weather in many places.

Northern, which is also under government control, issued a “do not travel” alert at 4.42pm on Sunday for its routes in north-west England for the rest of the day.

It said this was “due to the unavailability of train crew”, with many late-night trains cancelled and no replacement buses provided.

Jude Bellingham’s header gave England their opening goal within the first 13 minutes of the match (Image: Martin Rickett/PA)

A Northern spokesperson apologised for the disruption.

“We issued a ‘Do Not Travel’ notice across all North West & Cumbria routes on the evening of Sunday 16 June due to the unavailability of train crew," they said.

“Customers were advised to travel on earlier services and made aware that last services would be earlier than expected.

“Due to the number of services affected, we were not able to provide rail replacement transport. Northern tickets were accepted for travel on TransPennine Express services via any reasonable route to allow customers to complete their journey.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience this caused our customers.”

Members of train drivers’ union Aslef are taking action short of a strike at Northern between June 1 and July 27, affecting availability of staff.

Meanwhile, passengers faced disruption in other parts of the UK.

Great Western Rail warned passengers to expect “short-notice cancellations and alterations” because of “a shortage of train crew”.

It axed at least 22 long-distance services between London Paddington and south-west England, mostly from 4pm, with England’s match kicking off at 8pm.

• Read next: England fans celebrate as Bellingham scores to secure Euros victory

Thameslink and West Midlands Trains also suffered disruption on Sunday due to train crew shortages.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper has repeatedly called for an end to the rail industry relying on staff volunteering to work on rest days.

This has been a key issue in disputes between unions and train operators.