RUGBY league fans travelling to the Challenge Cup final at Wembley on Saturday face disruption because of a strike by train drivers in a long-running dispute over the sacking of a colleague.
It is expected to mainly impact Hull Kingston Rovers supporters, but it could also impact Warrington Wolves fans based in or travelling through east Yorkshire.
Members of Aslef on Hull Trains have been taking industrial action for months in protest at what they say was the unfair dismissal of a driver for raising a safety issue, which the company denies.
The union warned fans travelling by train to the game between Wire and Hull KR and that they will face disruption to services on the East Coast main line because of a 24-hour walkout on Saturday.
Services have been affected by industrial action all week.
Nigel Roebuck, Aslef’s organiser in the north east of England, said: “Aslef members do not take strike action lightly.
“We fully understand the anger of passengers wishing to travel to the Challenge Cup final on Saturday at Wembley.
“But angry fans should understand that this is a dispute entirely engineered by the company, not by us.
“Hull Trains unlawfully sacked a driver who had done nothing wrong, but the company refuses to give him back his job.
“Our dispute with Hull Trains has rumbled on since January, and throughout this process, Aslef has been willing to meet to find a solution.
“We have had little contact with the company since a meeting in late January, when we offered a solution that was ignored, and a further meeting in early March, when again it simply ignored all the salient points.
“Since then, all we have had are just emails, usually late at night or on Friday afternoons, when it knows we have no time to respond. Nothing serious is ever forthcoming.”
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “The company seems to think that we are going to give up and go away.
“That is not what we will do, because the company is clearly in the wrong.
“It sacked a driver, over what it claimed was a safety issue, who has a clean safety record. The driver did nothing wrong.
“The company has behaved not just badly, but vindictively, in persecuting a driver for doing nothing more than raising a safety concern.”
A Hull Trains spokesman said: “Of our timetabled services on Saturday, 90 per cent are planned to operate as normal.
“This includes our additional 8.57am direct service to London, and the 8.27pm direct service back to Hull.
“Customers can find the latest travel information on our website and social media channels.
“We would like to wish Hull KR the best of luck in the Challenge Cup final.”
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