Transport secretary Mark Harper has criticised the RMT union for "cynically targeting the Eurovision Song Contest" with a strike on the day of the grand final.
Liverpool is hosting the contest on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine, with tens of thousands of visitors from across Europe due in the city over the next fortnight.
Rail unions have been regularly striking since last autumn as they demand increased pay and improved working conditions, with strike days often chosen to coincide with major events.
In addition to the strike on Eurovision final day - Saturday, May 13 - the Aslef union of train drivers also plans to strike on May 12, May 31 and June 3 - the latter of which is FA Cup final day, when Manchester United and Manchester City will face off at Wembley.
"I think it's very damaging that the rail unions are calling a strike specifically targeting the Eurovision Song Contest," Harper told Sophy Ridge on Sky News.
"I've met with the head of Ukrainian Railways. The Ukrainian railways have been specifically targeted by Vladimir Putin. Rail workers are being killed in their hundreds.
"And I would have thought, frankly, rail workers would have wanted to stand in solidarity with them rather than targeting the Eurovision Song Contest, which, if you remember, it's not our song contest.
"We are hosting it, but we're hosting it for Ukraine and I think cynically targeting events that hard-working, working men and women across the country are spending their money on to try and attend and targeting those I think is very cynical."
With train travel off the cards on May 13, those travelling to Liverpool from the capital instead face a coach ride that will take almost three times as long, with a journey time of around six hours each way.
Neil Wilkes
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