HEATHROW Express passengers have been warned they face chaos on “getaway Friday” today — the start of school summer holidays.

Rail union RMT says the first week of a month-long overtime ban by staff is “shredding” Heathrow Express’s timetable and that today’s expected leap in passenger numbers will mean even more problems.

The union is strongly resisting plans to halve staffing numbers and introduce driver-only trains leaving no on-board staff to deal with evacuations in the event of emergencies.

RMT says the overtime ban is forcing Heathrow Express management to restrict key services and that passenger complaints have soared since the ban was introduced.

Acting general secretary Mick Cash said: “The removal of on-board staff, the halving of numbers and the driving forwards of driver-only operation, would render services inherently unsafe and make evacuation in the wake of an emergency incident or terrorist alert an absolute nightmare.”