It’s that time again when a strike impacts rail travel in the United Kingdom.
Let us see who is striking, and why you’ll probably need to catch a coach to London, as it’s also the FA Cup final weekend.
When are the strikes running and which unions are involved?
- Wednesday 31 May (ASLEF Union)
- Friday 2nd June (RMT Union)
- Saturday 3 June (ASLEF Union)
Which Operators are Impacted?
- Avanti West Coast – No Services on 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- c2c – 12 Car services will not stop at Limehouse
- Chiltern Railways– No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- CrossCountry – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- East Midlands Railway – No Services on 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- Gatwick Express – No Gatwick Express services will operate
- Great Northern – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- Great Western Railway – Limited Services and routes on affected dates.
- Greater Anglia – Limited Services – check before you travel
- Heathrow Express – Half-hourly services on the 31st, no service on the 2nd of June
- Island Line – No service
- LNER – Limited Services – check before you travel
- London Northwestern Railway – No Services on 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- Northern – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- South Western Railway – Limited Services operating. Check before you travel
- Southeastern – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- Southern – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- Stansted Express – One train an hour during strike days. Check for the timetable.
- Thameslink – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- TransPennine Express – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
- West Midlands Railway – – No Services 31st May and 3rd June, limited services on 2nd June
Is travel to and from London airports impacted?
Heavily.
- For Heathrow, use the Elizabeth Line or the Piccadilly Line (underground), as the Heathrow Express is heavily impacted
- For Gatwick, you will need to find a coach, as no trains are operating by any of the Govia Thameslink Railway Group (Southern/Thameslink/Gatwick Express) on strike days. On non-strike days, use Thameslink and Southern to complete your journey
- For London City, the DLR Is operating as normal
- For Luton Airport, you’ll need to find a coach, as no services are booked to operate
- For Stansted Airport, there is limited hourly service with Stansted Express
Check with the operators before travel.
What about the events in London and the region?
If you’re pondering travelling to the Epson Derby (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday), or to the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday), you’ll have to skip the drink, or find a designated driver, as there will be no train services that day.
London Underground is running services to Wembley Park, with no work reported in that region during the weekend, whilst the Jockey Club is laying on extra parking.
Where can I get more information?
The individual train operators and their plans are linked above. In addition, National Rail Enquiries has a high-level view of what’s going on at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/323978.aspx.
If your travel plans involve taking the trains today or this weekend, plan ahead – it could be a very short journey otherwise.
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