Wigan rail passengers urged to plan ahead this weekend prior to busiest day in Manchester so far this year

Friday 2 and Saturday 3 June will see further industrial action on the railways, and customers wishing to travel should expect train timetables and its operating hours to be significantly affected.

Between May 31 and June 4, more than 300,000 gig-goers are expected to see some of the biggest names perform live with Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys and Sir Elton John playing the Etihad, Emirates Old Trafford and the AO Arena.

Over the weekend thousands more will also be attending the free festival We Invented the Weekend, taking place at MediaCity and Salford Quays.

Dedicated travel guidance for each of the events, including which routes and suggestions of alternatives, can be found on Transport for Greater Manchester’s website.

Sports fans are also set to be affected by industrial action, with no services running to Newcastle on June 3, where Wigan Warriors take on Catalan Dragons as part of the annual rugby league Magic Weekend.

The strike on Saturday also coincides with the first all-Manchester FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United. Around 90,000 fans are due to attend the historic match in London, with thousands more expected to travel to the capital.

Sean Dyball, TfGM’s Head of Customer Experience, said: “We’re expecting this weekend, particularly Saturday, to be one of the busiest periods of the year in Manchester, with major events taking place and due to rail strikes we expect more people to travel on our region’s roads.

“We are expecting major congestion on Saturday and we strongly encourage anyone travelling into the city centre to plan ahead and allow sufficient time for their journeys."

TfGM is encouraging people to utilise the metrolink service throughout the weekend as this will be the quickest and most reliable mwthod of travelling around the city and has contactless payment available.

Drivers are being strongly advised not to drive into the city centre, with congestion expected in the city centre and on the Inner Ring Road across the weekend.

Car users who have no other option are advised to add a significant amount of additional time to their journeys.

Sean said: “People planning to drive should avoid the city centre and consider leaving their vehicle at a Park and Ride and using Metrolink to complete their journey.

“Throughout the weekend we will be constantly updating the customer information available on our website and across our social media channels to help people make informed journey choices, to save them time and avoid disruption to their journey.”