Passengers urged not to travel ahead of Christmas rail strikes – impacting Chesterfield, Dronfield, Matlock, Belper and Derby

East Midlands Railway services will be impacted by strikes in the lead-up to Christmas – with industrial action taking place on December 23 and 24.

On December 23, passengers are being urged only to travel by rail if necessary – with most services operating between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

There will be one train per hour on the following routes: Sheffield – London, Sheffield – Nottingham, Derby – Matlock and Nottingham – Worksop. All other lines will be closed and no rail replacement bus services will be provided.

On Christmas Eve, the only EMR service running will see extremely limited trains travel between Corby and London. No other services will run across the network, and passengers are again urged not to travel. On December 25 and 26, there are no EMR services as usual.

Northern services will be very limited on Christmas Eve, and will end much earlier than usual. No trains will be running on the Hope Valley Line between Sheffield and Manchester – causing disruption for those travelling to stations including Hathersage and Bamford.

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There will be four trains in each direction on the Sheffield – Nottingham route, with the last service leaving Sheffield at 11.06am, and the final train from Nottingham departing at 12.17pm. This will impact passengers travelling between Dronfield, Chesterfield, Alfreton, Langley Mill and Ilkeston.