Train companies are warning that rail travel this coming weekend will be severely disrupted by strike action by the RMT union.
The RMT union has announced strike action on Saturday 26th August and Saturday 2nd September, and that will affect most of England’s train companies ability to run services on the Saturday and cause late starts on the Sunday.
The train companies have now published their planned timetables for this coming Saturday, and most are expecting to run very few trains and only on the main routes. If you don’t have a seat reservation, it’s best to avoid travelling long distance as the trains that do run will be very busy.
For travel within London, TfL services are not affected by the strikes, although there are some planned engineering works.
As advance warning, ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, has also announced strike action on Friday 1st September, which is likely to see most services shut down entirely on the Friday and seriously disrupted on Saturday 2nd Sept due to an overtime ban.
Train companies affected this Saturday
Avanti West Coast
Friday 25th Aug – Busy
Saturday 26th Aug – Reduced service
Friday 1st Sept – No service at all
Saturday 2nd Sept – Reduced service
c2c
Not expecting significant disruption on Saturday 26th Aug, although 12-carriage trains won’t stop at Limehouse station.
Chiltern Railways
Significant disruption on Saturday 26th August, with few trains all day, and also late start/early finish.
- One train per hour Marylebone – stations to Banbury (and vice-versa).
- One train per hour Marylebone – stations to Oxford (and vice-versa).
- One train per hour Marylebone – stations to Aylesbury (via Amersham; and vice-versa). Trains will not call at Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood or Chalfont & Latimer.
No trains will call at Wembley Stadium, Northolt Park, South Ruislip, Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Hatton, Lapworth or Aylesbury Vale Parkway all day.
CrossCountry
Limited service on their services between main cities, but no service on other lines. The map on their website shows the impact of the closures.
East Midlands Railway
- One Train Per Hour between Nottingham and London St Pancras
- One Train Per Hour between Sheffield and London St Pancras
- One Train Per Hour between Corby and London St Pancras
- One Train per Hour between Derby and Nottingham
- One Train per Hour between Derby and Matlock
- One Train per Hour between Sheffield and Nottingham
- One Train per Hour between Leicester and Nottingham (Stopping Service)
- Two hourly service between Nottingham and Skegness – Only calling at Grantham – Sleaford – Boston – Skegness
Gatwick Express
Will be running a slow stopping service on Sat 26th Aug or Sat 2nd Sept, tickets will also be valid on Southern and Thameslink.
Great Northern
A limited service will be in place. Services will start later and finish earlier than normal and some stations will have no service for the whole day.
GWR
An extremely limited service will operate. There will be a reduced operating window; services will start at 7am and must be completed by around 6:30pm, and some branch lines wont have any service at all.
Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
Services will operate between 7am and 11pm, with all last trains reaching their destination by 11pm. Most routes will have a normal or near-normal service between those hours.
Some routes will have a reduced service, and a small number of routes will complete their final journeys much earlier or have no services at all.
Heathrow Express
A normal service on Saturday 26th August for most of the day, although last trains will depart before 9pm.
LNER
There will be services on Sat 26th Aug, but with a reduced timetable and a later start/earlier finish.
London Northwestern Railway
There will be a limited service of typically just one train per hour in each direction between major cities.
Northern
A small number of routes will have a very limited train service Saturday 26th August and Saturday 2nd September, and will start late from 8am and finish by 5pm. Many Northern stations will have no train service and may be closed.
No Northern services will operate on Friday1st September.
South Western Railway (SWR)
A significantly reduced service will run on a limited number of lines, with most of the network closed, and those trains that do run will only be between 7am and 7pm.
Southeastern
Limited service across the network and some routes will be closed.
Also, no Southeastern services to London Bridge on Saturday 26 August because of planned engineering work taking place across the bank holiday weekend.
No service whatsoever expected on Friday 1st September.
Southern
A limited service will be in place on Sat 26th Aug. Some routes will start later and finish earlier than normal and some stations will have no service for the whole day.
Thameslink
A limited service will be in place on Sat 26th Aug. Some routes will start later and finish earlier than normal and some stations will have no service for the whole day.
TransPennine Express
Limited services between a few cities only on Sat 26th Aug, and no service at all on Friday 1st Sept.
West Midlands Railway
On Sat 26th August, a limited service will operate between 7am and 7pm in a number of main routes only.
On Friday 1st Sept, they expect that no services will run at all.
RMT – sponsored by Lexus.
Worth noting on Sunday 27th that Thameslink services will be very limited, due to engineering work between Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City for digital signalling.
“No trains will run between:
– Potters Bar and Peterborough
– Potters Bar and Royston
– Hertford North and Stevenage”