How will rail strikes affect each train operator on Friday and Saturday?

Strikes will affect some services on Friday and Saturday.

Neil Lancefield
Thursday 01 June 2023 09:34 EDT
Workers who are members of the RMT union will strike on Friday, while train drivers who are members of Aslef will walk out on Saturday (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Workers who are members of the RMT union will strike on Friday, while train drivers who are members of Aslef will walk out on Saturday (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

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Train services are being hit by more strike action this week.

Workers who are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will strike on Friday, while train drivers who are members of Aslef will walk out on Saturday.

It comes after members of Aslef walked out on Wednesday, meaning several operators such as Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern and Thameslink were running no trains.

Here is a breakdown of each operator’s plan for strike days:

– Avanti West Coast

Friday: One train per hour will run in each direction between London Euston and each of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Preston, with a limited service to and from Glasgow.

There will be no services to or from North Wales, Shrewsbury, Blackpool, Stoke-on-Trent or Edinburgh, while Macclesfield station will be closed.

The first train of the day from Euston will depart at about 8am, and the last will leave shortly after 5pm.

Saturday: No trains.

– c2c

Friday: No major impact but 12-carriage trains will not stop at Limehouse, east London.

Saturday: Usual timetable.

– Caledonian Sleeper

Friday: All services will be operating via the East Coast Main Line due to engineering works.

Services will not be calling at Motherwell, Carlisle, Preston, Crewe or Watford.

Saturday: The Caledonian Sleeper does not operate on Saturday nights.

– Chiltern Railways

Friday: Services will be limited to one train per hour from about 8am until 10pm in both directions between London Marylebone and each of Banbury, Oxford and Aylesbury via High Wycombe; and between Amersham and Aylesbury Vale Parkway.

No trains will run between Banbury and each of Birmingham and Stourbridge Junction, or between Hatton and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Saturday: No trains.

– CrossCountry

Friday: A limited service will operate. No trains will run between Birmingham New Street and Cardiff Central or Nottingham.

Saturday: No trains.

– East Midlands Railway

Friday: Services will run between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

They will be limited to just one train per hour in each direction between London St Pancras and each of Nottingham, Derby and Corby, as well as a handful of regional routes such as between Leicester and Lincoln.

Saturday: No trains.

– Elizabeth line

Friday: The Elizabeth line is not involved in the industrial dispute with the RMT but there will be some alterations to its services.

These include no trains between Maidenhead and Reading before 7am or after 7pm, and no trains between Brentwood and Shenfield from 11.30pm.

No Elizabeth line trains will serve the National Rail platforms at Paddington before 7am and after 7pm on Friday. These trains will start and terminate at Ealing Broadway. No change to trains which serve the Elizabeth line platforms.

Saturday: Usual timetable apart from no Elizabeth line trains will serve the National Rail platforms at Paddington before 7am.

– Gatwick Express

Friday: No trains but Southern and Thameslink will serve Gatwick Airport until early afternoon.

Saturday: No trains.

– Grand Central

Friday: Grand Central is not involved in the industrial dispute with the RMT but there will be minor alterations to its services.

Saturday: Strike action will not affect services on Saturday, but there will be an amended timetable due to planned work.

– Great Northern

Friday: A limited service will run and only between 7am and 7pm. There will be no trains between Ely and King’s Lynn.

Saturday: No trains.

– Great Western Railway

Friday: A limited service will run and only between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

The only open routes will be between: London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads; London Paddington and Didcot; London Paddington and Cardiff; London Paddington and Plymouth; Gloucester and Swindon; London Paddington and Newbury; Greenford and West Ealing; Slough and Windsor; Maidenhead and Bourne End; Twyford and Slough; Reading and Basingstoke; Oxford and Banbury; Reading and Redhill; Oxford and Didcot (replacement bus service; Cardiff and Westbury; and Bristol Temple Meads and Plymouth.

The Night Riviera sleeper service is cancelled.

Saturday: A limited service will run and only between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

The only open routes will be between: London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads; Reading and Didcot; Reading and Basingstoke; Reading and Redhill; Westbury and Swindon; Cardiff and Bristol; Exeter and Barnstaple; Plymouth and Gunnislake; and Penzance and St Ives.

The Night Riviera sleeper service is cancelled.

– Greater Anglia

Friday: Trains will run between 7am and 11pm.

Some routes will have a reduced frequency, but most will have a normal or near-normal service. But there will be no services between Walton-on-the-Naze and Colchester Town/Colchester, or between Hertford East and London, or between Stratford and Meridian Water.

Saturday: A reduced service will run and only from 7am, with last trains earlier than normal.

Most routes will be closed, including between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge.

– Heathrow Express

Friday: Usual timetable until 8.40pm. Last train from London Paddington 8.40pm, Heathrow Terminal 5 at 8.42pm, and then Heathrow Central at 8.47pm.

Saturday: No trains.

– Hull Trains

All strike days: Usual timetable.

– London North Eastern Railway (LNER)

All strike days: A limited timetable will operate.

– London Northwestern Railway

Friday: A limited service will run and only between 7am and 7pm.

The only open routes will be between Birmingham New Street and each of London Euston, Birmingham International and Liverpool Lime Street.

Saturday: No trains.

– London Overground

Friday: London Overground is not involved in the industrial disputes but there will be minor alterations to some services.

Saturday: Usual timetable, apart from no service between Dundonald Road and Wimbledon on the tram before 6.45am.

– Lumo

All strike days: Usual timetable.

– Merseyrail

All strike days: Usual timetable.

– Northern

Friday: Only a handful of routes will be open, such as between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester; Leeds and York; and Darlington and Saltburn.

Saturday: No trains.

– ScotRail

All strike days: Usual timetable.

– South Western Railway

Friday: A reduced service will operate and only between 7am and 7pm.

Saturday: Services will be reduced and there will be no trains on the Isle of Wight.

– Southeastern

Friday: A reduced service will operate, with some routes closed.

Saturday: No trains.

– Southern

Friday: A reduced service will operate and only between 7am and 7pm.

No trains will run in a number of areas, including between: Hemel Hempstead and Clapham Junction; London Bridge and Norwood Junction; Southampton Central and Barnham; and Eastbourne and Ashford International.

Saturday: No trains.

– Stansted Express

Friday: Services will not start until after 7am.

Saturday: Frequencies will be halved to one train per hour in each direction.

– Thameslink

Friday: A reduced service will operate and only between 7am and 7pm.

Services will be split north and south, with nothing running between London St Pancras and London Blackfriars.

Saturday: No trains.

– TransPennine Express

Friday: A reduced timetable will operate and only between: Manchester Piccadilly and York, Preston and Manchester Airport and Sheffield and Cleethorpes.

Saturday: No trains.

– Transport for Wales

All strike days: Transport for Wales is not involved in the industrial disputes but some of its services will be amended.

– West Midlands Railway

Friday: A limited service will run and only between 7am and 7pm.

The only open routes will be between: Birmingham New Street and each of Northampton, London Euston, Liverpool Lime Street, Wolverhampton, Rugeley Trent Valley, Lichfield Trent Valley, Redditch and Bromsgrove; between Kidderminster and Whitlocks End/Dorridge via Birmingham Snow Hill; and between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town.

Saturday: No trains.

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