The simple advice is
Don’t Bother
Southern Railway again is suffering a strike – this time called by the ASLEF union, whose drivers drive a majority of the trains operated by Southern.
Southern Class 377 Electrostar arriving at Clapham Junction – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The drivers have commenced a 48 walkout (due to end on Wednesday 23:59), with another walkout due on Friday.
Southern Railways advice is simple:
Yikes. Looking at the supplied map, it’s extremely bad indeed, with Southern Railways network brought to its knees.
Planned operation during strike days – note Thameslink (in Purple) and Gatwick Express (in Red) will run
Only routes operated by Thameslink and Gatwick Express will run – and these will be heavily loaded as passengers try to get on them. Everywhere else – forget it.
Even though Gatwick Express is booked to run, its timings are reduced – with services operating between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport every 30 minutes between approximately 05.00 and 22.00.
A full list of where Southern Railway tickets will be accepted is listed on the strike page
If you are planning to get to and from Gatwick over the next few days, I would strongly advise you plan in a lot more extra time to your journey. Expect trains to be packed.
I’m going to be honest – I’ve seen rail strikes in the UK… but this has to be one of the worst ever to bring a major part of the rail network to a total stand-still.
With both unions and the company not talking to each other, this dispute has the makings of something that will drag on… and have no winners in the end.
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