On Saturday 1st and Saturday 8th October, RMT union members will take strike action at Network Rail, GTR and other operators across the UK. As with previous RMT strike dates, the day of the strike will see a very limited-service operating, with many stations and routes entirely closed. Previously planned engineering work on Saturday 1st between Brighton and Three Bridges and Balham and West Croydon via Crystal Palace will still take place to prevent disrupting customers later in the year.
The following table shows strike action and its effects.
Saturday 1st October - ASLEF (train drivers)
Wednesday 5th October – ASLEF
Thursday 6th October – TSSA (GWR management staff including our control centre)
Friday 7th October – TSSA
Saturday 8th October – RMT
As a result, their advice to travellers on the 1st and 8th is to travel by rail only if their journey is absolutely necessary. It is important to note that first trains will run after 07:15 and last trains will end by 16:30.
On Sunday 2nd and Sunday 9th October, the strike has a knock-on impact as essential services such as signalling will not be available until after 07:15. This means that the first trains will not begin their journeys until after 07:15 and significantly later in many locations depending on the distance from depots.
For the London Marathon, taking place on Sunday 2nd October we have been advised that it will not be possible to arrive in central London by rail much earlier than 09:00 (depending on route) and the first trains are expected to be extremely busy.
On Wednesday 5th October, with the exception of, Tonbridge to Redhill Southern services, Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services will run as normal. However, with other operators such as London Overground or South-eastern unable to run services due to ASLEF strike action, their advice to customers is expect our train services to be extremely busy and to check before travelling for the latest advice. A special school-focused timetable will run on the Tonbridge to Redhill route.
Information for planning journeys on Saturday 1st October can be found in journey planners such as www.nationalrail.co.uk, from Tuesday 27 September 2022
A full list of where trains will operate each day is available on their dedicated strike page www.gwr.com/strike. These will be extremely limited and will start later and finish much earlier than usual. The strikes will also impact the start of service on Sunday 2 October and Sunday 9 October and no rail replacement services will run throughout.
Train websites have been updated with a dedicated page containing a calendar, advice for each day and information on compensation and refunds.
https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/industrial-action
https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/industrial-action
https://www.greatnorthernrail.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/industrial-action
