All Saturday services on the Cumbrian coast line from Carlisle to Barrow have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
Several train drivers and conductors who work for Northern have either been diagnosed with coronavirus or been asked to self-isolate following Track and Trace notifications.
Yesterday, Northern announced delays and short notice cancellations were expected this weekend.
Many of the affected staff are based in Barrow and Workington, and the situation has worsened today.
Northern said it had no choice other than to cancel all services on Saturday.
Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: “We were already expecting this weekend to be difficult because of the impact of coronavirus, but the number of staff affected in Cumbria has risen significantly and we’ve had to take the difficult decision to cancel all services on the Cumbrian Coast line on Saturday.
“This is not a decision we have taken lightly and, in doing so, we’ve had to balance the demand for services with our realistic ability to provide a reliable and punctual service for our customers.
“At the moment we expect services to return on Sunday, albeit with a risk of short notice cancellations, but our message for Saturday is ‘do not travel’.”
On Saturday there will also be planned cancellations on services between Barrow and Manchester Airport, while many Lancaster to Morecambe services will be removed.
On Sunday, all Dalesrail services will also be cancelled.
