The rail industry is warning of significant disruption this Friday and Saturday due to two overlapping train strikes.
The ASLEF union is striking on Friday 12th May, while the RMT union is striking on Saturday 13th May.
ASLEF also has an overtime ban in place at 15 train operating companies between 15th and 20th May inclusive, as well as on 13th May and 1st June that will continue to affect the level of cancellations and the punctuality of some services. This action may particularly affect those travelling in and out of London and passengers are advised to plan their journey in advance.
Train companies affected this Fri and Sat
Avanti West Coast
No services at all on the Friday, and a limited service on the Saturday.
c2c
Not affected on Friday.
On Saturday, all services will run to/from Fenchurch Street station and will not call at Liverpool Street station or Stratford.
Chiltern Railways
No services on any routes on Friday, and a limited service on the Saturday, with one train per hour to/from London to Banbury, Oxford and Aylesbury.
CrossCountry
No CrossCountry services will be in operation on Friday 12th May, and a revised timetable will be in operation on Saturday 13th May,
East Midlands Railway
No EMR services will be in operation on Friday 12th May, and there will be a significantly reduced service on Saturday 13th May,
Gatwick Express
No service on Friday 12th May, and a reduced timetable will be in operation on Saturday 13th May,
Great Northern
No service on Friday 12th May, and a reduced timetable will be in operation on Saturday 13th May,
GWR
On both days, an extremely limited service on selected routes will operate and most services will start at 7:30am and must be completed by around 6:30pm.
Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
On Friday, there will be a reduced service on a limited number of routes. Most routes (including all regional lines) will have no service at all.
On Saturday, most routes will be open, but some will have reduced frequency of trains.
Heathrow Express
On Friday there wont be any service at all. Nomral service on the Saturday, but will close early at 9pm.
LNER
There will will be a reduced service on all dates.
London Northwestern Railway
No service at all on the Friday, and a limited timetable on the Saturday.
Northern
No service at all on the Friday, and a limited timetable on the Saturday.
South Western Railway (SWR)
On the Friday, there will be a limited service on many routes as they prioritise the main line services
On the Saturday, most of the network will be closed, with a limited service on some main lines with restrictions on the operating time as well.
Southeastern
No services at all on the Friday, and a limited service on the Saturday.
Southern
No services at all on the Friday, and a limited service on the Saturday.
Thameslink
No services at all on the Friday, and a limited service on the Saturday.
TransPennine Express
No services at all on the Friday, and a limited service on the Saturday.
West Midlands Railway
No services at all on the Friday, and a limited service on some routes on the Saturday.
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Both rail unions are staging further strike action on Wednesday 31st May, as well as Saturday 3rd June.
Ticketing and refund information
Customers with Advance, Anytime or Off-Peak tickets for travel on a strike day can instead use their ticket on an alternative date:
Tickets for Friday 12th May or Saturday 13th May can be used on Thursday 11 May or up to and including Tuesday 16 May.
Tickets for Wednesday 31st May can be used on the day before the date on the ticket or up to and including Friday 2 June.
Tickets for Saturday 3rd June can be used on the day before the date on the ticket or up to and including Tuesday 6 April.
Passengers with Advance tickets can be refunded fee-free if the train that the ticket is booked for is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled.
If the Advance ticket is for a train scheduled for a strike day, but it is not cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, and a customer prefers not to travel, they should contact their ticket retailer.
Customers with 2 x Advance tickets (an outbound and a return), to be used as a return journey, may be able to get a fee-free refund or change of journey for any unused legs/tickets, if either of the legs is scheduled for a strike day. Customers should check with their ticket retailer.
Season Ticket holders (flexi, monthly or longer) who cannot travel, can claim 100% compensation through Delay Repay for the strike dates of Friday 12th May, Saturday 13th May, Wednesday 31st May, Saturday 3rd June.
Fortunately disruption on Thameslink was fairly minimal on the East Coast mainline stretch. The main noticeable difference was trains terminated at King’s Cross and the fast additional morning/evening trains didn’t run.
I’m guessing the limited disruption for this service was due to the trains not having had guards on for decades.