PASSENGERS are being urged to check before they travel due to strike action and poor weather conditions on Merseyrail this weekend.

On Saturday Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) members will walk out for 24 hours following an ongoing dispute over guards roles on new driver-only trains.

A reduced rail service will also run on Sunday due to poor weather conditions.

Merseyrail services will run every 30 minutes on Saturday, with the exception of the New Brighton to Liverpool service which will run every hour from around 7am to 7pm, with a break in service between 11.30am and 1.30pm.

There will be no services on the following lines: Hunts Cross to Liverpool Central; Ellesmere Port to Hooton; Chester to Hooton, Kirkby to Liverpool Central and Ormskirk to Maghull.

Merseyrail tickets will be accepted on Arriva bus services. 

Services on some routes will finish earlier and some stations will have no service.

Mersey Ferries are due to run as planned but cross river rail tickets will not be accepted on this date.

Due to the continued freezing conditions, Merseyrail have also confirmed that a reduced service will run on Sunday, March 4.

Services will start from 10am and trains will run every 30 minutes on all lines throughout the day.

Merseyrail bosses say that the changes have been made after sub-zero temperatures have caused trains to freeze within half an hour of being used.

This has resulted in a reduced number of trains being able to run to normal timetables.

Managing director of Merseyrail Andy Heath said: “Despite the high number of staff working tirelessly through the night, it’s impossible for them to tend to all units at the same time, which means some of the trains are still freezing.

"This fleet is 40 years old and the new trains which will arrive on our network in 2020 are built with more sophisticated technology in the engines, making them much more robust in these freezing conditions.

"We apologise to passengers who have been affected by these timetable changes, which have been necessary to minimise disruption and keep trains running as reliably as possible.”

To plan your journey visit www.merseyrail.org

All revised timetables for Sunday are live on the Merseyrail website https://www.merseyrail.org/seasonal/adverse-weather-timetable-changes.aspx