Hitting more buffers: National Rail Strike (27th July)

For those who are planning to travel by train on the 27th… the simple advice is Do Not Travel as another round of strikes is about to kick off.

What parts of the UK Rail network will be open?

Network Rail has provided a map.

What is the general service pattern?

Like the last strike, it’s going to be a limited service operating between 07:30 and 18:30, with very limited services on the network. Typically this will be one service per hour, with some commuter routes operating slightly more.

Network Rail has given an indication of when to expect the last services to run.

	Edinburgh	Leeds	Newcastle	Birmingham	Manchester	Liverpool
From London	14:00	15:05	14:48	15:43	15:40	14:56
To London	12:30	15:45	14:30	16:14	15:27	15:56

	Sheffield	Nottingham	Bristol	Brighton	Norwich	Southampton
From London	15:40	16:31	17:13	17:50	16:30	17:00
To London	16:00	16:16	17:00	17:40	16:00	16:59

In addition, large parts of the network in Scotland, Wales, the North East and Southwest will experience no services at all during this time.

What are the plans from the individual train companies?

The full list (with each site’s strike notes) is below.

Some companies are not suffering strikes, however, are impacted by the Network Rail strike (such as Transport for Wales and Govia Thameslink Railway companies), whereas some companies have ceased services during strike times (such as Merseyrail).

Note, London Underground is unaffected by this strike.

For completeness, here are the confirmed plans of each train operating company:

Is connectivity to the London Airports impacted?

Yes. National Rail-connected stations will be impacted, with limited operations.

Heathrow Express will have a limited half-hourly only service. The Piccadilly Line will operate
Gatwick Express services will not run all day – use Southern services instead
Stansted Express will have a half-hourly service
Luton will have a mixed service

London City Airport will have a usual service operated on the Docklands Light Railway.

Note that services will start after 07:30 and finish well before 18:30 (except for London City Airport).

Will there be an impact the next day?

Almost certainly, with people and trains in the wrong place. Expect disruption in the morning of the 28th July.

Isn’t there another strike very close to this?

Yes. ASLEF members will be calling their members of staff out on strike on the 30th of July. This will impact:

London Overground (Arriva Rail London)
Chiltern Railways
Greater Anglia
Great Western
Hull Trains
LNER
Southeastern
West Midlands Trains (London Northwestern Railway / West Midlands Railway)

Operators on these routes are advising that services will not operate that day, or to expect significant disruption.

Avoid travelling by rail. It’s as simple as that.

Rail Strikes are never fun – it causes inconvenience and disruption for all (and it’s not helping as major events are occurring in the UK over the next few days).

If you can find a seat on the coaches, National Express and Megabus will be operating services too.

Or else, time to hire a car.

Nonetheless, if you value your sanity, put off train travel tomorrow if possible.

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, featuring in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can follow me on Instagram too!

Also remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.