Train strikes: Glastonbury fans arrive at festival two days EARLY as walkouts cancel HALF of all trains to festival
HUNDREDS of music fans have arrived at Glastonbury two days early in order to beat the rail strike which starts on Tuesday.
The walkout is expected to cause half of the trains bound for the festival to be cancelled as union members stop work in a bitter dispute over pay, conditions and jobs.
Music fans have already arrived at Castle Cary ahead of the Glastonbury festival which kicks off on Wednesday[/caption] Many fans have made their way to Worthy Farm early in order to beat the rail strike this week[/caption] Train services to Castle Cary are expected to be cut in half due to the strike[/caption]Scores of festival goers have already been spotted laden down with rucksacks and camping gear at Castle Cary station in Somerset with the famous music festival getting underway on Wednesday.
A host of stars, including Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and Diana Ross, are set to perform at the event which runs until Sunday.
With the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union calling the strike for this week, many fans heading to the festival may struggle to get there with the train service now being cut in half due to the industrial action.
Some of those arriving in Glastonbury will be staff arriving early as well as those going to celebrate the summer solstice tomorrow morning, where an all-night party has been arranged at the Glastonbury Tor site.
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The gates to the festival will not open until 8am on Wednesday although the car parks for the event will open at 9pm tomorrow.
Passengers have been urged not to travel unless absolutely necessary with half the rail network shut down on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
40,000 workers will walk out over job cuts, pay and conditions from tomorrow.
RMT boss Mick Lynch said: “The strike will go ahead – we call on our members to stand firm, support the action and mount the pickets.
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“We are not special. The whole country is suffering. We have a trade union prepared to fight.”
And Lynch said that there are no signs of the strikes stopping any soon.
He added: “Our campaign will run as long as it needs to run until we get a settlement acceptable to our people.
“It will go on until somebody offers us a deal we can put to our members and we can vote for it in a referendum.”
Downing Street said it was “deeply disappointing” that the strikes are going ahead, arguing that they will not resolve the issues faced on the railways.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is deeply disappointing, that these disruptive, these self-defeating strikes will take place this week.
“Striking does nothing to address the long-standing issues that we need to sort to make sure our railway, that the public use and treasure, is fit for the long term.”
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Many train services have been cancelled with “shortage of train crew” given among the reasons ahead of a national walkout of rail workers.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps denied that he is “the problem” in relation to rail strikes.
Fans could have trouble getting to Glastonbury due to the rail strike[/caption] Paul McCartney will be playing the main Pyramid stage at the festival[/caption]We pay for your stories!
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