Chief executive Kate Nicholls said the strike, which will see much of the national rail network ground to a halt this week, will cost the sector £540m across the week, based on a 20% drop in sales where a typical June week sees takings of £2.75bn.
“For a devastated hospitality industry beginning its tentative post-pandemic recovery, the planned strike action couldn’t come at a worse time, and might deliver a fatal financial blow to those businesses already struggling to survive,” she said.
Network Rail has said about half of all rail lines will be closed when thousands of workers walk out across Britain on 21, 23 and 25 June.
The services that run will start and finish earlier, from 07:30 to 18:30, with passengers advised not to travel on trains unless necessary.
Nicholls continued: “Fragile consumer confidence will take a further hit, thousands of people able and willing to spend money in hospitality venues across the country will be prevented from doing so, while staff will undoubtedly struggle to even get to work.
“We should all be pulling in the same direction if we’re to get the UK economy back on track, and want to see urgent and productive talks to avoid widespread disruption.”
