Getting the train to see Britney in Blackpool? How to beat the rail strikes...

A vastly reduced timetable has been published by Northern and passengers are being advised to plan ahead carefully before setting off.

Ongoing engineering work in and around Manchester will also see some disruption to services, particularly between Manchester and Preston and Manchester and Liverpool.

On Saturday, Northern expects to run around 30 per cent of services, while planned cancellations will affect a "small minority" of routes on Sunday.

Liam Sumpter, regional director for Northern, said: “We are doing all we can to keep our customers on the move and are focussing on running as many trains as possible.

"Customers should, however, be aware that there will be very few services running before 9am or after 6pm.

“Unfortunately, on some routes, we won’t be able to run services, while others will have a limited service. On those routes where we are able to operate trains, we expect all services to be extremely busy. We will also have replacement bus services available on some routes where trains aren’t running."

Read on for details of the trains that will be running on Saturday...

Preston to Blackpool South – One train per hour to and from Preston. The last train from Blackpool South is at 6.49pm

Preston to Blackpool North – Two buses per hour to and from Preston with some trains from Blackpool North. The last train to Preston is at 7.36pm

Liverpool – No direct trains or rail replacement buses to and from Liverpool