WAIT for a Cunard ocean liner to come along, and three come all at once. Wait for a train to take you home, and there are none.
That’s the very real prospect tens of thousands of visitors to Liverpool will face if a national 24-hour strike by the rail union RMT goes ahead from 5pm on Bank Holiday Monday.
It's the day the Queens Mary 2, Elizabeth and Victoria sail in convoy up the Mersey to celebrate Cunard’s 175th birthday in its ancestral home of Liverpool and organisers are estimating an influx of 1.5m people over the weekend.
Transport chiefs in Merseyside were today in urgent talks to discuss the impact of the strike, should it go ahead on May 25.
It would see Merseyrail and city trains forced to call a halt at 5pm - and it would be a bitter blow to what is being billed as an event of "international significance".
Liverpool Confidential has already reported how arrangements for rail travellers would see various city centre stations closed to “cope” with the massive influx of passengers.
And although trains would enable people to journey into the city, or the Wirral shoreline to watch the parade of Cunarders, the homeward journey could become a nightmare.
Gridlock
Merseytravel, Merseyrail and other transport organisations are keeping their fingers crossed the RMT dispute will be resolved, averting the strike, aimed mainly to impact on millions of commuters heading to work on Tuesday morning.
If the rail strike does go ahead it will cause a major headache if people headed towards the waterfront decide to go by car, potentially gridlocking the city and parts of Wirral.
Once source close to the situation told Liverpool Confidential: “There are eight days to go, so there is a chance there could be a resolution between now and then. The transport authorities are aware of the situation and urgent meetings are taking place today. The announcement of a possible strike has only emerged today.”
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) say they will walk out from 5pm on Monday May 25, prompting an accusation that the union was “holding the country to ransom”.
The workers, including signallers and maintenance staff, will also ban overtime for 48 hours on the Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday.
The union said services will be hit from the Monday but warned that the biggest impact will be on the Tuesday. “Services will be at a standstill,” said one official.
Network Rail has called on ACAS, the conciliation service, to broker fresh talks to try and settle the dispute and so avert the strike. It is expected talks will take place next week.
RMT members voted firmly in favour of industrial action in their pay dispute with Network Rail. On a 60% turnout of the 16,000 members eligible, 80% voted to strike and 92% voted for action short of a strike, the union announced.
Merseytravel told Liverpool Confidential today: “Transport Operators, transport organisations and local authorities, will continue to work together to understand the implications of the strike on transport for the event and will see how we can best respond. Travel advice and information will be updated on www.merseytravel.gov.uk so ensure you visit it regularly.”
The spokesman added: "We are putting this on the holding page of our website…Following the announcement of a national strike by Network Rail staff for 24 hours from 5pm on Bank Holiday Monday (25th May), the travel information and advice on this website is likely to be revised. Please ensure you visit this this website regularly for updates. These will be highlighted."
