Great Christmas getaway: UK railways brace for busiest day on trains as travellers race to beat strikes

British travellers are heading to the railways in their droves on Friday 23 December, ahead of strike action that will heavily disrupt train services on Christmas Eve and beyond.

The 23rd is typically the busiest day for rail travellers ahead of the Christmas holiday, with 27 December the busiest for post-Christmas travel.

Some rail workers are already on strike as of Friday: Unite union members working for Abellio East Midlands are walking out on 23 and 24 December, affecting East Midland Railway services.

EMR told its customers to “only travel if absolutely necessary”, warning: “On strike days EMR services will run between the hours of 07.30-18.30 only. Services will start later and finish earlier than usual with the last departures starting between 15.00 and 16.30. Please ensure you check the time of the first and last return train before you travel.”

The Heathrow Express from Paddington is also experiencing problems on Friday, with the operator warning that “due to a shortage of train crew” disruption is expected until 3pm.

Meanwhile Southwestern Railway alerted passengers that a reduced service is operating on 23 December. “Trains will run between 07.00 and 22.00 only, with some routes closed,” it advises, blaming “industrial action” which appears to be the RMT overtime ban.

Although the RMT Union walkouts over Christmas only start at 6pm on 24 December, Network Rail has warned passengers to avoid travelling at any time of day on Christmas Eve.

“Only travel if absolutely necessary. Services finish very early,” reads its online advice for that date.

On Tuesday, southwestern operator GWR released data showing its busiest service was slated to be Wednesday 21 December, with the second busiest its 12.04 departure from Paddington to Penzance on Friday.

“Those looking to travel for the Christmas getaway on GWR services are being urged to travel as early as possible, to book a seat and to only travel if absolutely necessary on Christmas Eve. Customers who do need to travel by train on Christmas Eve should complete their journey by lunchtime,” warned the operator.

The RMT Union has also banned its members from accepting overtime from18 December to 2 January, meaning train disruption is expected even on non-strike days during that period.

In a bulletin about industrial action, Southern trains warned: “We plan to run a normal service from 19 to 23 December, but due to an RMT overtime ban there may be short notice cancellations and amendments.”

LNER posted a graphic showing that all services on 23 December are “very busy”, except a few evening departures which have some availability.

Most of the travel chaos falls after Christmas, however, with disruption expected well into the first week of January.

The general secretary of the RMT Union, Mick Lynch, said: “Our message to the public is we are sorry to inconvenience you, but we urge you to direct your anger and frustration at the government and railway employers during this latest phase of action.

“We call upon all trades unionists in Britain to take a stand and fight for better pay and conditions in their respective industries. And we will seek to coordinate strike action and demonstrations where we can.

“Working people across our class need a pay rise and we are determined to win that for our members in RMT.”

For those who are travelling by air this Christmas, queues and flight disruption also look likely as Border Force strikes run from 23 December to the end of the year.