Council reassurance for Lincoln Christmas Market amid train strike action

City of Lincoln Council has reassured visitors travelling by train to this year’s Christmas Market that potential strike action should not affect key East Midlands Railway services.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) indicated they are preparing for strike action on December 3 and 4 after an announcement by EMR earlier this week.

This would coincide with the popular Lincoln Christmas Market, which runs between December 2 and 5 and will bring some much-needed festive cheer to the city after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of last year’s event.

The city council said East Midlands Railway are working hard to ensure there is minimum disruption to train services.

LNER also previously announced a special weekend timetable with longer trains and extra seats ahead of the Lincoln Christmas Market.

There are also other travel options for visitors, including the popular Park and Ride service at Lincolnshire Showground at an early bird price of £12 and coach pre-bookings are available for the market until November 26.

An East Midlands Railway spokesperson said: “We are disappointed and surprised by this latest threat of strike action.

“We have noted that the strike dates have been specifically selected to disrupt the Lincoln Christmas Market and we will be working on contingency plans to try and protect key services over the weekend of December 3 and 4.”

Simon Colburn, Assistant Director for Health and Environmental Services at City of Lincoln Council, said: “We are very pleased to hear that East Midlands Railway is working hard to ensure there is minimum disruption to train services during the Lincoln Christmas Market period.

“Lincoln Christmas Market is a very popular event and we are confident that East Midlands Railway will be able to ensure everything runs smoothly during that weekend, despite any potential strike action.

“If people who would usually catch the train to the Lincoln Christmas Market are looking to arrange their travel early this year, we have a variety of options available.

“Park and Ride is available at Lincolnshire Showground with shuttle buses travelling to the market on a regular basis with an early bird rate of £12 for up to five passengers.

“We are also taking pre-bookings for coach travel, which ends at midnight on November 26 for larger groups looking to attend this year’s market.”

There will also be several traffic restrictions in place during the festive event – see more details here.

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More details about the event can be found here.