If you’re planning to travel by rail in the UK, you might want to rethink your plans, as strike action has been called.
There are not going to be that many trains over the next few days…
This time, it’s the RMT Union who has called their members out on strike. The strike will run between Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 December 2022, with a lot more action to come as we approach the end of the year.
Oh – and it’s also being planned into the New Year too.
Which train companies are impacted by the strike?
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
Some trains will operate reduced timetables, whilst some routes will suffer complete shutdowns. You are strongly advised to check before you travel.
What times will trains operate, if they do?
Limited operations on these days will be from 07:30 to 18:30 during strike days. Expect the barest of bare-bones services, with capacity, with hourly or half-hourly services running.
Even during those operational hours, expect the services to start very late and finish early so journeys can be completed by 18:30.
Are services to airports impacted?
Yes. If you arrive outside the designated service hours, you will need to find an alternative way from your airport to your final destination. The reverse applies if travelling to the airport.
Connecting London Heathrow:
- Heathrow Express is running services but is impacted by a late start/early finish.
- Elizabeth Line is expected to be heavily impacted.
- The Piccadilly Line is operating normally
Connecting other airports near London
- Gatwick Express will not operate services. Use Southern or Thameslink services to reach Gatwick.
- Stansted Express will operate two trains an hour between London Liverpool Street and Stansted.
- Luton Airport will be served by Thameslink and EMR with a limited service
Is there more industrial action on the way?
Yes, per the chart that Network Rail has provided.
In addition, between the 18th of December and the 2nd of January, the RMT and TSSA have instructed its members not to book on for any overtime on these dates. This will have an impact on some operators who are used to having the overtime working members operating services – and thus, impacting the number of services that can be provided over the upcoming two weeks.
Expect disruption.
Where can I get further information?
National Rail Enquiries should be your first port of call. They have a dedicated page at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/industrialaction.aspx.
Also, you can check with the individual train operators listed above.
If you are planning to travel over the next week – especially as we run into the Christmas holiday, allow a lot of extra time for your journey and expect trains that do operate to be a lot more packed than usual. In addition, check the times of the last trains.
They will be a lot earlier than you are used to.
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