Strikes hitting the UK rail and London Underground networks – 18th, 19th and 20th August

The wave of industrial action with three strikes coming one after with various strikes on the 18th, 19th and 20th of August.

Let us break down the strikes in strike date order.

Thursday 18th August

Who is striking: Network Rail Staff, Some Train company staff.
Affects: The UK Rail network

As with previous strike days, the entire network will be capacity-hit, with services operating between 07:30 and 18:30 on a very limited basis.

What parts of the UK Rail network will be open?

Network Rail has provided a map.

You can get the map from https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/National-Industrial-Action-Disruption-August.pdf

Last trains times

Network rail provided some examples of last train times. Note, that services will start a lot later than normal, with a very limited timetable.

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 on the 18th of August.

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

• Avanti West Coast
• c2c
• Caledonian Sleeper
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Elizabeth line
• Gatwick Express
• Grand Central
• Great Northern
• Great Western Railway
• Greater Anglia / Stansted Express
• Heathrow Express
• Hull Trains
• LNER
• London Northwestern Railway​​​​​​​
• London Overground
• Lumo
• Merseyrail
• Northern
• ScotRail
• Southeastern
• Southern
• South Western Railway / Island Line
• Thameslink
• TransPennine Express
• Transport for Wales
• West Midlands Railway

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).

Friday 19 August

Who is striking: Workers for London Overground, Underground, London Buses
Affects: TfL Operations area

Transport for London (TfL) says people should avoid the Tube, which will have little or no services running, and only use the rest of the network if essential. In addition, the rail network will be slow to adapt, as services will take time to get back to normal after a strike.

Bus routes in West London will be hit hard too TfL has published a list of the routes likely to be affected. These include:

• London Underground: Severe disruption on all lines. Little to no services throughout the day. No Night Tube
• London Overground: late start. No Night Overground
• Trams: reduced service
• DLR: services into Bank running 07:00-18:30
• Buses: services affected in the west and south west London and parts of Surrey
  • Impact on the following routes: 18, 33, 49, 65, 70, 71, 72, 85, 94, 105, 110, 116, 117, 148, 203, 211, 216, 220, 223, 224, 235, 258, 265, 266, 272, 281, 283, 290, 293, 371, 404, 406, 411, 418, 419, 423, 440, 465, 467, 470, 481, C1, E1, E3, H17, H22, H32, H37, H91, H98, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, N9, N18, N33, N65, N72, N266 and S3
  • No Night Bus services on affected routes

Who is striking: Network Rail Staff, Some Train company staff, London Buses
Affects: The UK Rail network

See above for the 18th of August in terms of what is affected.

In addition, there is a bus strike in the west and south west London and parts of Surrey, affecting the following routes.

• • Impact on the following routes: 18, 33, 49, 65, 70, 71, 72, 85, 94, 105, 110, 116, 117, 148, 203, 211, 216, 220, 223, 224, 235, 258, 265, 266, 272, 281, 283, 290, 293, 371, 404, 406, 411, 418, 419, 423, 440, 465, 467, 470, 481, C1, E1, E3, H17, H22, H32, H37, H91, H98, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, N9, N18, N33, N65, N72, N266 and S3
  • No Night Bus services on affected routes

London Underground is expected to start Underground services after 08:00, with no services on parts of the Bakerloo and District Line that run on National rail lines.

Sunday 21st August

Expect disruption to continue as people and trains are out of place. Expect cancellations and delays in the morning, with services returning to some normality in the afternoon.

Where can I find further information?

• For National Rail services:o https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/301926.aspx
• For Transport for London services: https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/strikes?cid=strikes

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