Rail
passengers are facing cancellations or fewer services as train companies face
high levels of staff absences due to Covid.
The Rail
Delivery Group said almost one in 10 rail workers were off.
Train
companies including ScotRail, CrossCountry and LNER have announced reduced
timetables and passengers have been warned of cancellations.
Alex Hynes,
boss of ScotRail, said the company had "hundreds" of staff off work
due to having Covid or isolating.
He told the
BBC's Today programme the company usually operates 2,000 services a day, but it
would be reducing this by 160 (8%) from Tuesday many business listings.
"Over
the last few weeks because of record numbers of Covid cases we have been
cancelling too many trains so we have decided to proactively put this revised
timetable in to give our customers greater certainty on the service we can
offer," he said.
·Staff
absence cuts Wales train timetables further
· Train
operator hit by crew shortages due to Covid
Mr Hynes
said the operator was "pretty confident" the reduced timetable would
"prove to be a robust service for customers in the coming weeks".
"We
have said we will offer this timetable until the end of the month but of course
one of the lessons we have learnt from Covid is that we would be foolish to
predict the future," he added.
"There
will be a few twists and turn in this Covid tale until it's over."
Rising Covid
case numbers have led to large numbers of people self-isolating and being
unable to go to work, which has acutely affected industries where staff is
unable to work from home.
Rail operator
CrossCountry said its staff absences were "worsening each day", with
more than one in 10 staff now absent.
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Meanwhile,
South Western Railway said its services would be "subject to short notice
cancellations" ahead of the company introducing a "consolidated
timetable" from 17 January.
LNER has
announced it has cancelled 16 trains for this week but warned passengers there
could be "other non-planned changes" to the timetable.
On Monday,
there were widespread cancellations across Britain's train services with the
Rail Delivery Group estimating that more than 6,000 staff, including crews and
drivers, was currently absent business listings.
The industry
body said there would be "some short-notice cancellations so our advice to
anyone travelling is to check online before they set out or to sign up for
automatic alerts from National Rail Alert Me".
"We are
working hard to provide the most reliable service possible and so that
passengers can travel with confidence when fewer rail staff can work, a number
of operators are introducing amended timetables," it added.
The website
of Transport for Wales showed 49 train journeys were cancelled on Monday, while
TransPennine Express cancelled 37 and Avanti West Coast cancelled 25.
Southern has
said it is not putting on any direct services to London Victoria - a major
commuter station - until next Monday.
Rail
Minister Wendy Morton said she would "continue to monitor the situation
closely".
The
government has warned rising cases could see up to a quarter of staff off work
and ministers have been tasked with developing "robust contingency
plans" to deal with workplace absences free business listings.
Public
sector leaders have been asked to prepare for "worst-case scenarios"
of 10%, 20% and 25% absence rates, the Cabinet Office said.
The
transport sector is not the only area affected by staff absences, with worker
shortages also hitting retailers and hospitality firms.
More on this
story
·Train
operator hit by crew shortages due to Covid
· Hundreds
of trains cancelled as Covid hits railways
·Staff
absence cuts Wales train timetables further
· ScotRail services reduced due to Covid shortages
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