Strikes expected to disrupt rail travel for Bolton Wanderers' League One Ipswich Town opener

Rail strikes have been announced for the opening weekend of the League One could season and could hamper travel plans for Bolton Wanderers supporters heading to the opening game of the season against Ipswich Town.

The Whites open their campaign on Saturday, July 30, with a trip to Portman Road to take on the Tractor Boys. The season is starting earlier this year owing to the winter World Cup in Qatar.

Bolton did the double over Ipswich last season with a spectacular 5-2 victory at Portman Road. They followed this up with a 2-0 triumph at the University of Bolton Stadium in January.

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The journey by road takes well over four hours so the train presents a perhaps more appealing option, given the train station's close proximity to Portman Road. However, strike action has been called for that Saturday which is expected to hamper services that weekend.

Services will likely be disrupted as members of the Aslef union at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains stage a walkout on Saturday, July 30. Other strikes will also take place on Hull Trains on July 16 and 23 while drivers on Greater Anglia will strike on July 23.

It comes after the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) announced their plans to strike on July 27 while TSSA members on Avanti West will strike on the same day. Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We don’t want to go on strike – strikes are the result of a failure of negotiation – and this union, since I was elected general secretary in 2011, has only ever been on strike, until this year, for a handful of days.

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